TEHRAN – 10-man Iran national football team defeated Syria 5-3 in penalty shootout on Wednesday in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage.

Mehdi Taremi was brought down by the Syrian defender and he converted the penalty with a right-footed shot in the 34th minute at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand fouled on Pablo Sabbag and the Korean referee awarded a penalty to Syria after a VAR check.

Right-footed Omar Khrbin sent his to the center of the goal to equalize the match in the 64th minute.

The condition went from bad to worse just after the 90th minute after Taremi received his second yellow card.

Team Melli won 5-3 in the shootout after the match had ended 1-1 after extra time.

Iran will meet Japan on Saturday in the competition’s quarterfinals.

Iran had stormed to the top of their group with three wins, finishing ahead of the United Arab Emirates in second but Syria finished third in their group behind Australia and Uzbekistan.