Second Round of Paris Olympic Qualifiers; Iran's Women's Football Team Defeated by Australia 2-0

The Iranian women's national football team lost 2-0 to the host team Australia on Thursday, October 26, 2023, in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers in the first group of Asia. The Iranian women footballers, after winning two matches against Myanmar, advanced to the second round of Olympic qualifiers, where they are grouped with Australia, Chinese Taipei, and the Philippines. The preparation phase for the Iranian women's football team, like in previous years, was spent without holding friendly matches against strong teams. Maryam Azmoon, who returned to coach the national team under the presidency of Mehdi Taj, has previously had the opportunity to lead the national team but has not achieved any notable success. In this match, Maryam Azmoon started with players Zahra Khajavi, Behnaz Taherkhani, Fatemeh Amini Barazjani, Zahra Sarbali, Fatemeh Adeli, Hadis Basatshir, Melika Motavali, Zahra Ghanbari, Shabnam Behesht, Afsaneh Chatarnour, and Negin Zandi. Iran had only 21% possession in this match and conceded a goal in the 19th minute from Ellie Carpenter. Despite Australia's complete dominance on the field, they were not brilliant in scoring and had to wait until the 78th minute to secure a second goal, scored by Sam Kerr from a left-wing cross, which eased the minds of the Matildas' fans. The Matildas are the Australian women's football team, ranked 11th in the FIFA rankings. Iranian football experts, despite the women's team's loss in their first important match against the strong Australian team, described this defeat as honorable. On the other side, despite the victory, Australian football experts, including former national player and television analyst Andy Harper, called the night of the Iran-Australia match a 'boring night' for the Matildas. He attributed the 79% possession, with 19 corners and 25 shots (only 6 on target), to extensive changes in the lineup of the fourth-ranked team in the World Cup and Olympics. In this match, Caitlin Ford and Katrina Gorry, Australia's best players in the World Cup, did not get a chance to play. According to critics of Australian football, the Matildas should have put more pressure on the Iranian national team, which was desperately strengthening its layered defense and wasting time after every encounter. Andy Harper believes that Iran, knowing it would never win this match, aimed to lose honorably, and Australia’s coach Gustavsson exactly fulfilled this request. Critics of Gustavsson argue that other opponents like Iran are no longer solely focused on defense, and Australia will face problems with this lineup and strategy. They consider Mark Torcaso, the coach of the Philippines, Australia's next opponent, to be smarter than Iran's coach. In another match in this group, the Philippines defeated Chinese Taipei 4-1. Chinese Taipei will be Iran's opponent on Sunday, November 7. The Iranian women's national football team, ranked 70th in the world, has always failed to advance in the second round of Olympic qualifiers in Asia, and given the presence of superior women's football teams in this continent, the possibility of the Iranian women's team qualifying for the Olympics is impossible. Despite the mandatory hijab for the players of the Iranian women's national football team, the Islamic Republic's broadcasting organization does not air their matches. Limited presence of women in stadiums to watch the Tractor - Al Sharjah match, the possibility of limited female spectators at the Nassaji - Al Hilal match in Tehran, surprises of the Women's World Cup; the elimination of the USA and Germany has caused problems for Nike and Adidas, open data from Iran: only 36% of Iranian athletes are women.