TEHRAN – Iran defeated Iraq 3-0 in Group A of the 2022 World Cup qualification Round 3 Tuesday night.

Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh opened the scoring for Iran just three minutes into the match with a header in Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium.

Mehdi Taremi made it 2-0 in the 69th minute. The Porto forward received a long ball from Sardar Azmoun and coolly slotted the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs and into the net.

Substitute Ali Gholizadeh scored the third goal for Iran in the 90th minute just three minutes after he came off the bench.

Dragan Scocic’s side cemented their stance in the top of the table with six points.

Iran had started the campaign with a 1-0 win over Syria on Thursday.