TEHRAN – Iran’s women’s football team head coach Maryam Irandoost says that they were supposed to play some friendly matches ahead of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup but the matches are canceled.

Iran are in Group A along with India, China and Chinese Taipei.

The 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup will serve as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (Regulations Article 4.6), in which Australia already qualified automatically as a co-host. Five teams will qualify directly for the World Cup via the knockout stage (including play-offs for fifth place or possibly sixth place), and two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

“We have a difficult task ahead because we will participate in the competition without a single warm-up match,” Irandoost said. “Iran will compete in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time and I think the team had to play some friendly matches for the competition.”

Iran football team were supposed to hold a 10-day training camp in Charleroi, Belgium but the camp was canceled.