Beijing (AFP) – China are hoping to reproduce the form that gave South Korea palpitations last week as they take on heavyweights Iran in another big World Cup qualifying test on Tuesday. China fought back from 3-0 down to make it 3-2 with 14 minutes left in Seoul, ensuring a tense finale to a game […]

Tehran (AFP) – Iran international goalkeeper Sosha Makani has been suspended for six months for "inappropriate" conduct, including the wearing of what media have dubbed "SpongeBob trousers", ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday. The Iranian football federation's morality committee cited Makani's clothing as one of the reasons for handing out the punishment. "Among the matters […]

Going into the 2015 AFC Asian Cup there were a number of teams who had a point to prove. After a disappointing showing at the World Cup in Brazil the likes of Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia had an opportunity to right a few wrongs and rebuild. As for the other pretenders within the […]

The quarterfinal between Iraq versus Iran was never going to be a run-of-the-mill affair. Coming into the match, Iraq had only beaten their arch rivals once in their previous five AFC Asian Cup meetings losing the other four. Iran, on the other hand, had exited the AFC Asian Cup at the quarterfinal stage in 2011 […]

The group stage of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup is over and there wasn’t a single draw at all. There have been 24 definitive results in 24 matches, which is quite remarkable. The knockouts have a lot to live up to and there are some tasty fixtures to look forward to. In total there are […]

There have been 60 games, 258 shots on target, 408 shots off target, 103 goals, 84 saves, 112 yellows and eight reds. Those numbers, statistically at least, paints a picture of the qualification process for Asia’s premier international football tournament the AFC Asian Cup. For trivia fans the first Asian Cup was played in 1956 […]

After several years of hard work, grueling traveling schedules and thorough preparations, Asia produced four World Cup qualifiers – Japan, Australia, South Korea and Iran. The fact that none of these four sides picked up a victory in a combined total of 12 matches played between them highlights the decline of soccer in the region. […]

At Noon ET/9am PT today, the eyes of the world will be fixated on the Estadio Mineirao at Belo Horizonte. They will be watching Argentina vs Iran, but one man in particular will be the focus of almost all the attention. A few days ago, Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup goal in 8 […]