Russia 2018 Asian Qualifiers Final Round: Group A at a glance

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GROUP A

IRAN
Opening game: September 1 v Qatar (HOME)

Iran had a mixed start to Preliminary Round 2 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Asian Qualifiers having drawn 1-1 twice at the midway stage, but a strong second half, in which the three-time Asian champions scored 15 times and conceded just one in a run of four straight wins, saw Iran comfortably top Group D six points clear of second-placed Oman.

After debuting at the FIFA World Cup finals in 1978, Iran qualified for the global game’s most prestigious tournament on three further occasions. They appeared for a second time in 1998, defeating the USA for their first ever World Cup win, before going on to take part in Germany 2006 and Brazil 2014, where Team Melli were unable to follow up that famous victory in Lyon with a second World Cup win.

KOREA REPUBLIC
Opening game: September 1 v China (HOME)

The Taeguk Warriors marched into the Final Round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Asian Qualifiers in imperious fashion, scoring 24 times and conceding none during their seven successive victories to top Group G and emerge as the only team to advance with a 100% record.

Debuting in 1954, Korea Republic had to wait over three decades for a return to the FIFA World Cup finals, but their qualification for Mexico ’86 marked the beginning of an Asian record of participating in every edition of the global game’s biggest tournament since, a run that included reaching the semi-finals in 2002 when the South Koreans co-hosted the competition with Japan.