TEHRAN – Four days after a 1-0 loss to Tunisia in Rades, Team Melli defeated Algeria 2-1 in Graz, Austria on Tuesday.

Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi both scored in the opening 20 minutes at the Merkur Arena.

Azmoun found the back of the net with a header in the 11th minute and Taremi rounded Algerian coach Faouzi Chaouchi eight minutes later to make it 2-0.

Algeria center-back Farouk Chafai pulled a goal back in the 56th minute with a header.

Carlos Queiroz’s team have been drawn in Group B of the 2018 World Cup along with Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

Iran national football team will open the campaign with a match against Morocco at Saint Petersburg on June 15.

Team Melli, meanwhile, face Spain in Kazan on 20 June before meeting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Saransk five days later.

(Reporting by Masoud Hossein)