Iranian Youth Football Dreams Dashed in Indonesia

Iran's youth football team, which had dreams of qualifying for the World Cup, was defeated by Morocco on Tuesday, November 21, at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. Under the guidance of coach Hossein Abdi, the team initially took the lead in the 73rd minute with a goal from Ismail Gholizadeh, but the opposing team equalized in the four minutes of extra time in the second half, leading to a penalty shootout to determine the winner. In the penalty shootout, except for Erfan Darvish, who converted Iran's first penalty, Hesam Nafari and Kasra Taheri were unsuccessful. In contrast, the Moroccan players scored all four of their penalties, winning 4-1 against Iran and advancing to the quarter-finals of the tournament. The U-17 World Cup is being held in Indonesia from November 10 to December 2. Iran's youth national team was in Group C alongside Brazil, England, and New Caledonia. In their first group match on November 11, Iran faced the defending champion, Brazil. Despite trailing 2-0 at halftime, the team made a historic comeback in the second half, winning 3-2 with goals from Yaqoub Barajeh, Kasra Taheri, and Ismail Gholizadeh. In their second match on November 14, Iran played against England at the Jakarta International Stadium and scored in the 31st minute through Abolfazl Zamani. However, the team conceded an equalizer in the 60th minute and, due to a goalkeeper and defensive error, allowed a second goal in the dying minutes, losing three vital points. Under these circumstances, Iran needed three points in their third match on November 17 against the emerging team from New Caledonia at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung. The representative from the small Pacific island of 270,000 people had lost their previous two matches with scores of 10-0 and 9-0 against Brazil and England. Iran's youth team won this match with goals from Amir Mohammad Razaghinia, Reza Ghandipour, Mohammad Asgari, and Kasra Taheri. Thus, under coach Hossein Abdi, they advanced with 6 points, alongside England and Brazil, as one of the best third-placed teams in the six groups. The Atlas Lions of Morocco became the opponent for Iran's young cheetahs in the Round of 16. With Iran advancing as one of the four best third-placed teams in the group stage, they faced the first-placed team from Group A in the Round of 16. Morocco topped Group A with 6 points, thanks to goal difference, after drawing with Indonesia and Panama and losing to Ecuador. The Iranian youth football team bid farewell to the 2023 U-17 World Cup in Indonesia after losing in the penalty shootout against Morocco.