*This content was translated by AI.
- "Asia's strongest" Iran wins its 14th career championship
Indonesia's futsal national team, which was trying to win the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Asian Cup for the first time in history, lost to "Asia's strongest" Iran and bowed its head.
Indonesia failed to win the final match of the tournament held at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the 7th (Korea time) by losing 4-5 in a penalty shootout after drawing 5-5 against Iran in regular time and overtime.
Indonesia, the host country whose best performance was in the quarterfinals before this tournament, reached the final beyond the first semifinal in history with enthusiastic support from home fans, but failed to overcome Asia's strongest Iran in the end.
As many as 17,733 spectators also entered the Indonesian Arena on the day when the final match of the tournament between Indonesia and Iran was held.
Indonesia, whose FIFA futsal ranking is 24th, ranked sixth in Asia, advanced to the quarterfinals as No. 1 in the group, defeating South Korea (57th) 5-0 in the first Group A match.
Indonesia, which beat Vietnam (20th) in the quarterfinals and reached the semifinals for the first time in history, beat Japan (13th) 5-3 in overtime to reach the final for the first time in history.
Indonesia faced Iran, which has the highest FIFA futsal ranking in Asia, 4-4 in regular time and 1-1 in overtime. However, he swallowed the disappointment when two players missed in the final penalty shootout.
On the other hand, Iran won its second consecutive tournament following the 2024 tournament. He has established his strongest position in Asia by winning 14 of the 18 competitions, including the AFC Futsal Championship. Japan won the remaining four tournaments, and the history of only two teams, Iran and Japan, that have ever won the Futsal Asian Cup, continued this year.
Saeid Ahmadabashi, who led Iran to the championship, was chosen as the MVP of the tournament. The top scorer was Muhammad Osaman Musa of Thailand (six goals), and the best goalkeeper award was won by Ahmad Habibie of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, South Korea, led by head coach Paulo Fernandez (Portugal), lost to Indonesia, Iraq and Kyrgyzstan in the group stage and was eliminated with all three losses. South Korea's futsal has only won three draws and 21 losses since winning the 2007 Japanese competition. Korea's FIFA futsal ranking is also the 15th in Asia.
After the competition, Eom Si-joon (Gyeonggi LBFS) of the Futsal national team said, "Only six of the 14 players on the Korean national team, including me, are currently playing with annual salaries. Of the remaining eight players, four play with only a victory allowance. The other four players are even playing the Futsal Pro League for money. Unfortunately, this is the reality of our futsal in Korea," he said, pointing out the unfortunate reality.
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*This content was translated by AI.
