TEHRAN - Al Wasl earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Esteghlal on Wednesday to book their berth in the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League Two 2025/26.

The stalemate took the United Arab Emirates side to 11 points, confirming them as the Group A winners with a match to spare while Esteghlal will slug it out with Bahrain’s Al Muharraq SC to determine who also advances.

Esteghlal imposed themselves on the game early on, opening the scoring in the sixth minute after great work from Esmaeil Gholizadeh who dribbled along the goal-line only to see his initial attempt blocked by Khaled Aljneibi before sending the rebound to Saeid Saharkhizan for a tap-in.

In the 63rd minute, Hugo Goncalves exchanged passes with Serginho before sweeping the ball into the bottom corner.

The goal woke Esteghlal up from their slumber but despite attempts from Jasir Asani and Hossein Goodarzi, they had to settle with a point.