CAFA Nations Cup 2025: Iran thump India to maintain historic streak

After a strong start to the CAFA Nations Cup with a 2-1 win against Tajikistan, India were given a harsh reality check against Iran, courtesy a 0-3 defeat on Monday (September 1). Khalid Jamil's side did put up a better show than the scoreline suggests, but it wasn't enough to stretch an Iranian side that was just too good in terms of collective quality.

The first half was a stalemate, although Iran had started to threaten as early as the fifth minute when a long range shot from out of the box had to be saved by an alert Gurpreet. The first ten minutes of the game saw relentless pressure from Iran who also earned a series of corners but Gurpreet's reflexes kept India afloat. The next 15-20 minutes saw Iran trying to create but their execution in the final third seemed awry with Gurpreet not having to do much. There was, however, a big change near to half-time but Iran could not capitalise on it.

Going into the second half at 0-0 would have been a huge win for India's head coach Khalid Jamil and India kept themselves in the game by defying Iran's attacks while seldom creating anything themselves. Jamal's men were guilty of being ultra-defensive, but that was understandable, given Iran's attacking prowess. While the standard Jamal formation is 4-3-3, that was only in attack while the defensive shape meant that the wingers would also drop deep to defend, with only the lone striker playing front. It meant that quick counterattacks were just not feasible.

After nearly an hour of resistance, India caved in to a moment of brilliance in the 59th minute as Amirhossein pounced on a wonderful assist from Zadegan to put their side in front. With a goal down, India had no option but to try their luck in attack. However, they couldn't muster many chances and in the 89th minute, Iran effectively sealed the game with the second goal that was scored by Ali Aliporghara. The Iranians added salt into their opponents's wounds in the dying seconds of the game through the mercurial Taremi as the game ended 3-0.

India did show a lot more fight than was expected of them but Iran were the dominant side right through.