Iran beat Qatar 1-0 in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier

Iran edged past Qatar 1-0 in a Group A fixture of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium here.

Both teams went through ups and downs in their attempts to open the scoring, but were not able to produce a goal in the first half on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Iran eventually took the lead in the 52nd minute, when Karim Ansarifard's through ball found Mehdi Taremi in space. The 24-year-old made no mistake and netted the winner.

Iran will next take on China at Tehran' s Azadi Stadium on March 28.

Iran is pitted against South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar and Syria in Group A of the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament.

The winner and runner-up of each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the third-placed teams of each group (two teams in total) will head to the play-off round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The winner of the Asian play-off round will then face twice the fourth-placed squad in the fifth round of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football qualifying games.

--IANS

tri/vt