Battle in progress: Kyrgyzstan defeats Iran 2-3
The match was officiated by a team of Chinese referees, with the main referee being officiated by Chinese Super League Golden Whistle Ma Ning, while the VAR referee was Shen Yinhao. There were also two assistant referees, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng, with Zhang Lei assisting as the fourth official and Du Jianxin in charge of the VAR assistant.
In recent years, Kyrgyzstan's soccer strength has increased significantly, currently reaching 103rd place in the world ranking and 17th in the Asian zone, but has yet to reach the World Cup final round. The Iranian team, as the best of Asian soccer, is ranked 19th in the world, second only to Japan in the Asian region. Iran has a wealth of experience in the World Cup final round, a total of six times, but has never been able to get out of the group stage.
In this clash, the Iranian team showed great offensive firepower at the away stadium in Bishkek-Dolian Omurzakov. Taremi, who plays for Inter Milan, scored in the opening minutes of the match with a follow-up shot. Then in the 33rd minute, Saleh Haldani extended the lead to 2-0 with a brilliant one-touch volley.
