TEHRAN – Iran U17 football team captain Erfan Darvish Ali says that they can shine in the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup.

Iran advanced to the 2023 FIFA World Cup after booking a place in the 2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup in Thailand.

Hossein Abdi’s boys failed to advance to the final after suffering a 3-0 loss against Japan in the competition’s semifinals.

“We could have defeated Japan but they took advantage of our mistakes and won the match. It’s normal in football. We had defeated Japan three months ago but lost our concentration in this match and suffered a defeat,” Darvish Ali said.

Iran football team are placed in Pot 3 of 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup and the Foolad defender believes that they will not be a minnow in the World Cup. We have a lot to say in Indonesia,” he stated.

“The federation should arrange training camp ahead of the World Cup. We can prepare well with the warm-up matches because, as you know, the world’s best team will participate in the World Cup,” Darvish Ali concluded.