Lopetegui expects more from Qatar after win against Iran

Julen Lopetegui kicked off his tenure as Qatar head coach with victory, with the Spaniard describing the 1-0 win against Iran as a morale booster for the back-to-back AFC Asian Cup champions.

Pedro Miguel’s first half strike secured victory against Iran, who were reduced to 10 men following Milad Mohammadi’s 35th minute red card, in their Asian World Cup qualifiers Group A tie as Qatar secured their place in the playoffs, where an additional two tickets are available to next year’s global showpiece.

“We played against the best team in the group, one that had already qualified for the World Cup,” said Lopetegui. “We wanted to win to qualify for the playoffs and that's what we did. We had every incentive to win, and we worked hard to put in a good performance. We won and were able to finish the match in our favour. This was my first match with the Qatari national team and winning is of course an important incentive for everyone."

“The players adhered to the instructions completely, and the victory is a motivation for what's coming. We have another match ahead of us, and we must also focus because it will be an important building block for what's to come," the former Spain and Real Madrid coach added.

Defender Miguel, who was named man of the match, hailed the team’s unity and said his teammates were fully focused on securing the crucial victory. “We had no choice but to win. We were confident, we had worked hard for this,” he said.

The experienced defender highlighted the role of the supporters in pushing the team over the line. “Our fans were tremendous today—they were one of the main reasons behind this win. I’m very happy to make them proud,” he said. “This victory is the result of the efforts of the entire group. Our goal is the same as the fans’— to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. We have to keep going, and we need our fans to continue supporting us in the next phase,” Miguel said.

Iran became the first team in nine World Cup qualifiers to fail to score against Qatar —handing Al Annabi their first clean sheet of the campaign. Every opponent had found the net against Qatar, who have conceded 21 goals so far — the most of any of the 18 Asian teams in qualifiers.

Iran had a golden chance to become the top-ranked Asian team in the FIFA standings. A win against Qatar, who were coming off a 3-1 loss to Kyrgyzstan in March, would’ve allowed Iran to leapfrog Japan and become the top-ranked Asian side.

Despite a first defeat of their campaign, Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei saw positives in his side’s performance. "I think the match was good. Both teams performed well and we started well. There were some moments in the match, especially the second yellow card for our player, which caused us to lose some control at the end of the first half but we improved in the second half,” said Ghalenoei.

"The Iranian league ended early, and some players waited 20 days (to play), and our situation was different from Qatar's. Seven of our main players were injured but the young players were good and I am very optimistic about the future,” he added.

Qatar face Uzbekistan, who booked their place in the global spectacle following their 0-0 stalemate against the United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, while Iran take on North Korea.