TEHRAN - Iran's Esteghlal football team were the final team to confirm their spot in the AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 West Zone's Round of 16 after defeating Al Rayyan 2-0 on Tuesday.

TEHRAN - Iran's Esteghlal football team were the final team to confirm their spot in the AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 West Zone's Round of 16 after defeating Al Rayyan 2-0 on Tuesday.

Esteghlal’s win saw them finish in sixth spot on nine points with Al Rayyan a rung below and a point adrift. The result also pushed Persepolis into ninth spot, thus eliminating the Iranian side.

Results in the West Zone on Monday meant that Al Rayyan had already secured their place in the knockout stage prior to the match while Esteghlal only needed to avoid defeat to join the Qatari side in the Round of 16.

Esteghlal enjoyed a dream start to the second half as they took the lead just a minute in when Alireza Kooshki chased down the ball on the left and swung in a cross that was chested into goal by Mohammadreza Azadi, the-afc.com wrote.

Al Rayyan thought they had drawn level in the 65th minute but Guedes’ goal was ruled out for offside and they went further behind four minutes later as Kooshki weaved his way into the box before doubling Esteghlal’s advantage and taking them into the next round.