Iran Shatters France 7-0 in Blind Football World Cup

Iran’s national blind men football team thrashed France 7-0 in its group stage match at the Spain Blind Football World Cup on Sunday in Madrid.

Persian footballers pushed the French to their second loss of the tournament ending their hope to stay in the course of the cup, according to the results on the website of the event.

Sadeq Rahimi was the star of the game with a hat-trick. He scored three goals in the 16th, 35th, and 37th minutes. Hossein Rajabpour netted the ball twice for Iran in the 3rd and 12th minutes.

Behzad Zad-Aliasghari netted the ball twice as Rahimi. Behzad helped the team with two goals in the 12th and 20th minutes.

Iran shares Group B with Argentina, France and Columbia. This is the first time Iran is competing in the World Cup. In their first fixture, Iran lost 1-0 to Argentina in an intense match.

In the table of the group, Columbia with four points is on top and Argentina second with the same points due to goal difference. Iran with three points sits on the third place and France is at the bottom end zero points.

For the final match of the group stage Iran will line up against table-topper Columbia on June 12.

Now Iran is hopeful of moving to the quarterfinals as it can qualify from the group whether it wins against Columbia or shares points in a draw.

The Spanish Blind Sports Federation (FEDC) and National Organization of Spanish Blind People (ONCE) are hosting the event in Spain for the first time. The event is sponsored by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA).

The blind football games are underway in Madrid from June 7-17. For the first time in history, 16 national teams are participating. In the previous tournaments 8 to 12 teams attended.