Iran qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after its victory at home 1-0 against Iraq, 3 rounds before the end of the Asian qualifiers today, Thursday, amid Iraqi suspicions of manipulation of the results of the Corona examination, which led to the absence of 8 players from the ranks of the Iraqi national team.
Iran leads Group A with 19 points from 7 matches, two points ahead of second-placed South Korea.
😼-like reflexes from #Iraq‘s Fahad Talib #AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/lgO10B2XIy
— #WAC2022 (@afcasiancup) January 27, 2022
Mehdi Taremi scored the winning goal 3 minutes after the start of the second half at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, when he broke through the defense and was alone with the goalkeeper to hit the low ball into the net.
Pure exhilaration 💪🏽🇮🇷
The #RoadToQatar is paved by these national heroes at the 📍 Azadi Stadium 🏟 tonight!#AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/xxY3Pj3l49
— #WAC2022 (@afcasiancup) January 27, 2022
A charged and suspicious atmosphere
The match was preceded by a charged atmosphere, but this time in a different way, especially in light of accusations made by the Iraqi Football Association against the Iranian side of deliberately excluding 8 players and some administrators within the delegation, by tampering with the results of the Corona virus examination.
The Iraqi Federation announced that it had submitted an official complaint to the Asian Football Confederation and to the match supervisor, calling for the necessity of re-examinations for all the football delegation. He pointed to many events that accompanied the examination process, and that some tests changed from negative to positive.
He said that these examinations caused the Iraqi team to be deprived of 8 players, who are Amjad Atwan, Yasser Qassem, Manaf Younis, Saad Natiq, Mustafa Nazim, Hussein Ali, Hussein Jabbar and Sherko Karim, in addition to some administrators.
At a time when the Iraqi fans accompanying their team complained about the few cards granted to them and the delay in selling them, which caused chaos and anxiety among the fans.
The issue of the Iraqi team’s examinations sparked wide reactions on social media platforms, as the Iraqis’ responses varied between sarcastic and angry at the behavior of the Iranian side hosting the match.
🔊 The sound when the ball hits the woodwork. 😳#AsianQualifiers | #Iran pic.twitter.com/V55rJCZkNl
— #WAC2022 (@afcasiancup) January 27, 2022
The first two teams from the first and second groups qualify directly for the finals in Qatar, while the two third-placed teams will meet in an Asian playoff to determine the team that will compete in the international playoffs.
