CAFA Championship: Iran Defeats India 3–0 for Second Straight Victory

Tehran - BORNA - The match kicked off at 15:30 local time on Monday, September 1. Both sides went into halftime scoreless, but Iran broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh converted a cross from Mohammad Hossein Kanani.

In the 89th minute, Mehdi Taremi’s strike hit the post, and Ali Alipour capitalized on the rebound to double Iran’s lead. Deep into stoppage time (90+5), Alireza Jahanbakhsh assisted Taremi to seal the victory with Iran’s third goal.

Head coach Amir Ghalenoei’s starting lineup featured Payam Niazmand, Ramin Rezaeian, Mohammad Hossein Kanani, Amin Hizbavi, Mohammad Naderi (subbed by Abolfazl Jalali at 46’), Mehdi Hashemnezhad (replaced by Jahanbakhsh at 73’), Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Mehran Ahmadi (subbed by Alipour at 46’), Omid Noorafkan, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (replaced by Arya Yousefi at 90+1), and Majid Aliyari (replaced by Taremi at 73’).

Hosseinzadeh, who opened the scoring, was named Man of the Match.

Iran had previously defeated Afghanistan 3–1 in its opening match. The team will play its final group-stage match against host Tajikistan at 19:00 on Thursday, September 4.

End Article