Iran edges Mexico to seal historic U-17 World Cup quarters spot

The fairy tale continues for Iran at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India as the Asians edged Mexico 2-1 to set a quarter¿nals date against Spain.

Two goals inside ¿rst ten minutes put Iranians on their way toward fourth consecutive win in four in the competition, ¿fa.com reported.

Mohammad Shari¿ converted a very con¿dent penalty to put Iran in front with only seven minutes into the game after Mohammad Qaderi’s hard work to take the ball from Adrian Vasquez, who responded with a clumsy challenge in the box.

Four minutes later, the Mexican defense looked out of sorts again, and allowed Allahyar Sayyadmanesh far too much space in the box.

The impressive forward gathered a long ball, turned and chipped his shot over the frustrated Mexican goalkeeper Cesar Lopez.

Iran, which blitzed through its group including a famous 4-0 win over Germany, looked set to run away with the contest, but the Mexicans settled well after 30 minutes and began to have the better of the chances.

They tested goalkeeper Ali Gholamzadeh several times before ¿nding their breakthrough in the 37th minute when Roberto De La Roda thumped in a volley from near the edge of the area from a rebound.

The CONCACAF representative continued to look the more dangerous team throughout the second half with Diego Lainez going close and Jairo Torres rattling the post near the hour mark.

Iran recovered in the end and exerted its prowess, holding the ball well in the Mexican half to close out the match and reach its ¿rst-ever quarter¿nal in this event.

It was a dif¿cult contest, but Iranians maintained their momentum heading into their clash against the European champion.