Iran reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Cup by defeating Syria on penalties 5-3. Iran opened the scoring with a penalty kick by Mehdi Taremi (34th), and Syria equalized through Omar Khribin (64th) Iran, seeking to win its fourth title and first since 1976, will meet next Saturday in the quarters-finals with Japan, which surpassed Bahrain by beating it 3-1 earlier Wednesday at Education City Stadium.
In the penalty shootout, Iranian players scored from their five attempts, while Fahd Al-Yousef from Syria failed.