Afghanistan National Football Team Starts Central Asian Cup with Defeat

The Afghan national football team faced the Iranian national team in its first match at the 2025 Central Asian Cup (CAFA) and lost 3-1 in an acceptable match.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Sports Service: The national team players had a close game in the first half of the game and in the 24th minute of the first half, they were able to score the first goal of the match before Iran through Omid Mousavi. This goal was the second goal in the history of the Afghan national team against Iran and they took the lead for the first time during a match against this team.

Iran's first and third goals were scored by Majid Aliyari and the second goal by Amirhossein Hosseinzada.

Grouping and next match

Afghanistan is in the second and strongest group of the tournament with Iran, India and Tajikistan (hosts).

Afghanistan's next match will be played on Monday, September 10 against Tajikistan.

Respect and camaraderie between the teams

After the pre-match press conference, Amir Qalanovai, head coach of the Iranian national team, and Roozbeh Cheshmi, a player of the team, had a warm and friendly meeting with Vincenzo Alberto, head coach of Afghanistan, and Mohammad Sharif, a player of the team. Greetings, smiles, and taking a souvenir photo between the two sides showed that tomorrow's competition is not an obstacle to mutual respect and camaraderie, and these moments were very attractive to the media.

Qalanovai introduced the Afghan national team as a growing team and added: "This team has had remarkable performances in recent games against Syria and Thailand. We enter the field with full respect and our goal is to present a tactical and powerful game."

The head coach of Afghanistan also emphasized that the country's national team will face Iran with full preparation and has special plans for this match.

List of 23 players of the Afghanistan national football team in the CAFA tournament

Goalkeepers:

1. Faisal Hamidi

2. Keyvan Mottaqian

3. Isa Azizi

Defenders:

4. Sharif Mohammad

5. Ruhollah Iqbalzada

6. Elias Mansoor

7. Amid Arezo

8. Mahboob Hanifi

9. Sayed Aref