TEHRAN – Iran U23 football team were knocked out of the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup after playing to a 1-1 draw against Uzbekistan on Tuesday. Mehdi Mahdavikia’s team showed that they will have a tough mission to end the 48-year Olympics qualification drought.

Mahdavikia said they deserved to book a place in the next stage since they were the better team in the matches against Qatar, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Absolutely not.

Iran earned a late draw against Qatar in their opening match. Qatar, the bronze medalists of the previous edition, suffered a 6-0 loss against Uzbekistan and were held to a 1-1 draw against Turkmenistan and it shows that how weak they were.

Mahdavika’s boys shockingly lost to debutants Turkmenistan and were lucky not to lose against Uzbekistan.

Iran U23 football team have a tough mission to book their place at the 2024 Olympic Games.

The most of players of Iran U23 team are not in their team’s starting lineup in the Iranian league and it means they suffer lack of experience.

The team will have to participate at the 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualification next year but they need to identify their strengths and weaknesses ahead of the competition.