Iran qualifies for FIFA WC 2026 

Tehran: Iran has qualified for next year’s Men’s FIFA World Cup.

The World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year, with 48 teams participating.

Qualifying rounds for the mega event are currently underway on different continents.

On Tuesday, Iran secured its place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup by drawing 2-2 against Uzbekistan in Group A of the World Cup Qualifiers Asia at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.

Iran only needed to draw against Uzbekistan to qualify for next year’s mega event.

At one point in the qualifier, Uzbekistan led 2-1 until the 82nd minute, but Mehdi Tarimi scored a brilliant goal in the 83rd minute to pull Iran out of the deficit.

In the first half of the match, Uzbekistan took the lead thanks to a goal by Kojimat in the 16th minute. In the second half, Iran's Mehdi Tarimi equalized, while in the next minute, Abu Sebek scored for Uzbekistan to give the team the lead again.

In the 83rd minute, Mehdi scored for Iran, and the match was tied 2-2 in the stipulated time, thanks to which the Iranian team managed to qualify for the Football World Cup by earning one point.

Iran has qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the fourth consecutive time and the seventh time overall.

It is pertinent to note that in the third round of qualifying, 18 teams were divided into three groups, in which the top two teams from each group will qualify for the Football World Cup.

Japan and New Zealand have already qualified for the FIFA World Cup, while the hosts, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, have already secured their places.