The Maldives national football team lost 4 nil to Iran in Tehran last night in the first leg of the World Cup qualifying group stage match.
Striker Karim Ansarifard opened the scoring in the fourth minute but had to wait until the 62nd minute to get his second. Captain Ali Karimi added the third goal when he scored from a corner six minutes later while substitute Saeid Daghighi netted the fourth with two minutes to go.
Maldives will have to beat the three-times Asian Champions with a higher score in the return leg on July 28 in Male’ to qualify for the second group stage.
Iran set a World Cup qualifying record when it beat the Maldives 17-0 in 1997. However the last time the two nations met in April 2000, Iran won the Asian Cup qualifying game 3-0.
