TEHRAN – Iraq U23 football team defeated Iran U23 3-1 in a friendly match Friday night.

In the match held in Baghdad’s International Stadium, Hussein Ammar was on target just one minute into the match but Ahmad Shahriatzadeh levelled the score in the 50th minute.

Alexander Aoraha made it 2-1 for the hosts and Hassan Abdulkareem scored Iraqi team third goal.

Iran had edged Iraq 1-0 in the first friendly match on Tuesday.

Mehdi Mahdavikia’s team played the friendlies as part of preparation for the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup.

The fifth edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup will be played in Central Asia for the first time, with Uzbekistan hosting 32 matches across the cities of Tashkent and Karshi.

Iran are pitted against hosts Uzbekistan, Qatar and newcomers Turkmenistan in Group A.