Young Iranians Ready for Mexico in U-17 World Cup

High on confidence after a strong show in the group stage, Asian powerhouse Iran would look to keep its unbeaten run intact when facing Mexico in a pre-quarterfinal match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Tuesday.

Iran has had a streak of good luck in the tournament, beating Guinea (3-1), Germany (4-0) and Costa Rica (3-0) to top Group C, Sportskeeda.com reported.

The Asian side would be looking to keep the momentum going to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in its fourth appearance in the tournament.

Iran will, however, be without its key defender and captain Mohammed Ghobeishavi for the match after he received a yellow card against Costa Rica, his second in the tournament.

Head coach Abbas Chamanian took Ghobeishavi’s absence in his stride, saying these things happen in football. “Our main focus for the match is to play a collective game just like we did in the group phase especially against Germany which was the best in the tournament”.

“Now we are looking to do the same against Mexico that will pose a threat as for its players’ physical built and stamina and speedy run,” the Iran coach said.

Iran’s strikers have scored ten goals in three matches and the defense has looked compact so far as it has conceded just one goal in the tournament.

  Precious Players

Younis Delfi and Allahyar Sayyad have been brilliant upfront as and have been involved in almost every chance Iran has created.

Mohammad Ghaderi and Mohamad Sharifi have been lively in the midfield. Iran is good in the air and takes advantage of the dead ball situations. The team is also fast on the counter- attacks as well.

The farthest Iran had progressed at the FIFA U-17 World Cup was the round of 16. Now coach Chamanyan says they expect to at least be in the semi-finals.

Two-time champions Mexico has not had a great tournament so far, considering that it came here as Central American champion.

Mexico finished third in Group F and qualified for the round of 16 without a win - as one of the four best third-placed teams. The South American team earned the least number of points (two points) in the group stage among the round of 16 qualifiers while Iran collected the whole 9 points.

Mexico drew the first group match against Iraq (1-1) and then lost to England (2-3) before drawing against Chile (0-0).

The team has not lived up to the expectations and will face a stern test against a confident Iran.