Iran wins football 7 qualification tournament

The Iranian football 7-a-side team captured the gold medal at the 2016 International Federation for Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) World Championship Qualification Tournament on Saturday (6 August) in Vejen, Denmark.

Iran beat Scotland to claim the finals victory 4-0, securing their spot at the 2017 World Championships, to be held 3-22 September in San Luis, Argentina.

Iran struck in the 19th minute to lead 1-0 from Jasem Bakhshi, who finished the day with another goal in the 58th minute. Mehdi Jamali and Ehsan Masoumzadeh each had a goal apiece for Iran.

All was not lost for Scotland, as the top eight from the 13-team tournament in Vejen qualified for the 2017 Worlds.

Advancing with Iran and Scotland are Venezuela, who defeated Portugal 2-1 for the bronze medal.

After a 0-0 deadlock for nearly the entire match, Venezuela’s Jessy Yari Villegas broke the silence with a goal in the 52nd minute. Portugal’s Vitor Vilarinho evened the scoreboard four minutes later, but Villegas knocked in the winning goal nearly two minutes after.

Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada and Japan are also qualified for next year’s Worlds.

The complete team list for the 2017 IFCPF World Championship can be viewed on the IFCPF’s website.

Complete match reports and results can be found on the event website.