Iran will be looking to book their place in the knockout stages of the Asian Cup against Hong Kong. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) defeated the Dragons 3-1 in their first meeting, while Iran easily defeated Palestine 4-1.
Preview (Hong Kong vs. Iran)
This past weekend marked the official end of Hong Kong’s 50-year absence from the Asian Cup. Despite two VAR penalties against them in the loss, the players gave it their all. Early in the second half, the lowest-ranked Asian team entering the competition—150th according to FIFA—was level with the UAE before a moment of inattention happened. Hong Kong’s team participated in the Asian Cup for the first time since 1968 on Sunday. They have already lost all 11 of their games in the campaign.
However, Jorn Andersen’s team has shown a lot of tenacity in recent games. They overcame two one-goal deficits to draw Turkmenistan in the 2026 World Cup qualification. They also won a historic 2-1 over China earlier this month—their first victory against them in 39 years. Hong Kong’s defense has not been as spotless as it could be. In their previous seven games, they have conceded goals. More than ten years have passed since they lost a friendly match against Vietnam 2-1 in June 2012.
While Team Melli’s run of clean sheets may have stopped, their domination in the Asian Cup group stage persisted. Since 2007, the team has won 11 straight group matches. If Iran wins on Friday and the UAE wins or draws, they would continue to advance to the knockout stage. This team has only lost in the group stage once since 1968 (1992). They haven’t lost to Hong Kong in almost 50 years, even if their lone and only setback in July 1974 came from an unauthorized match. Iran has won their last six meetings with them.
Team News
Due to a thigh issue, Sean Tse was unable to play in Hong Kong’s opening match, while Helio was also sidelined by a muscular ailment. With just 11 appearances remaining, Yop Hung Fai, the player with the most caps in the program’s history, is only 11 appearances away from reaching 100, and Wu Wai and Ju Yingzhi are six appearances away from 50. On Sunday, Chan Siu Kwan scored his fourth goal for the senior team in his 19th appearance, marking the 1,000th goal in this competition’s history. Iran’s opening match saw Omid Ebrahimi, who is now just one appearance short of 60, replace Saman Ghoddos in the second half. Ali Gholizadeh was absent for Iran’s first game due to an injury.
Mehdi Torabi is two appearances shy of 50, Reza Asadi is two appearances shy of ten, and skipper Ahsan Hajsafi has closed the gap on the record held by Javad Nekounam to only 11 caps. Sardar Azmoun, a striker for Roma, scored his 50th goal for the national team over the weekend, tying him for second place all-time behind Karim Bagheri but far short of Ali Daei’s record of 108. Karim Ansarifard, Mehdi Ghayedi, and Shojae Khalilzadeh scored the other Iranian goals on the opening day of play.
Hong Kong 1-5 Iran
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