TEHRAN – Iran national football team head coach Dragan Skocic says that they need to beat Iraq to get job done in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The ‘Persian Leopards’ are scheduled to play Iraq on Tuesday at the Sheikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium.

The race for top spot promises to see a thrilling end with Iraq - on 17 points - two ahead of Iran while Bahrain will need to defeat Hong Kong by a huge margin and hope for Iran to lose to secure second place as Group C goes down to the wire.

“We knew that we need four wins out of four matches in the competition. Iran have defeated Hong Kong, Bahrain and Cambodia but our job is not yet finished. We must defeat Iraq to book our place in the next stage,” Skocic said in the pre-match news conference.

“The match against Iraq will be a tougher challenge than the previous matches because Iraq are a stronger team. We have a lot of respect for Iraq since they benefit from good coaching staff and players. They are a respectable team,” he added.

“We are well aware that they will play us with their best lineup. We are in good situation and there is a good atmosphere in our team. But we know that our job has not done yet. My players have to forget the previous matches since we are one step away from qualification,” Skocic concluded.