Syria narrowly loses to Iran in the World Cup qualifiers

Iran started the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a difficult 1-0 victory over its guest, Syria, on Thursday.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored the only goal with a shot from inside the penalty area that changed its direction after a pass from Mehdi Taremi after 11 minutes of the second half in Tehran's Azadi Stadium, as Iran gathered the first three points from the first group.

The first two teams in each group qualify directly for the finals in 2022, while the two third-placed teams will enter into a series of playoffs in order to seize a fifth Asian place in the finals.

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