Istiqlal's Charter Flight and an Important Result for Iranian Football: What's the Story?

The race between Iran and Qatar for positions in the Asian qualification table has entered a more critical phase; results from the second round of matches highlighted the role of an Iranian representative in shifting the balance.

Iran and Qatar's competition to maintain their position in the Asian quota table has entered a more sensitive stage; The results of the second week of the competition highlighted the role of an Iranian representative in changing the equations.

Ambassador Arjan-Sports Group: The second week of the Asian club tournament had turned into a direct competition for Iran and Qatar football. Esteghlal faced Al-Gharafa in Doha, Tractor was the host of Shamal, and the results of other representatives of the two countries could also change the equations related to the quota for the 2028-2029 season.

The result of this week for Iran was a victory, a draw and a defeat. Esteghlal defeated Al-Gharafa with a score of 2-1, Tractor drew with Al-Shamal without a goal, and Golghar lost to Al-Muharraq of Bahrain by two goals in the second level of the Asian Champions League. These results increased Iran's current season average from 3.889 to 5.222 points.

In the latest ranking, Iran remains third in the western region with a total of 62,161 points, and its current quota includes three teams in the elite league and one team in the second level of the Champions League. Qatar ranks fourth in the West with 59,552 points and has two direct quotas for the Elite League and one second level quota.

The difference between the two countries after the first week was 1.526 points, but the results of the second round increased this difference to 2.609. Iran added 1.333 points to its current season coefficient in one week, while Qatar's contribution from this week's matches was only 0.250 points. In this way, the distance between the two competitors increased by 1,083 points in one week.

Esteghlal has contributed the most in this leap. With two consecutive victories against Al-Sad and Al-Gharafa and three bonus points for being in the main stage, the Blues have brought their total club points to 9. Tractor has four points with one draw and one defeat, and Golgohar has collected 2.667 points with one draw and one loss in the second level.

The total points of the three representatives of Iran is 15.667, which by dividing it by three teams, a coefficient of 5.222 is obtained. Esteghlal alone has won more than half of the points of the Iranian representatives and the two wins of this team against the Qatari rivals have had a direct impact on the quota competition.

The second week had a much weaker result for the Qatari clubs. Al-Sad lost against Al-Hilal, Al-Gharafa lost to Esteghlal at home, Al-Shamal drew against Tractor and Al-Ryan also lost to Al-Taawan in the second level of the Champions League with a score of 2:1. Therefore, among the four representatives of Qatar, only Al-Shamal could get points this week.

Qatar's representatives have played eight matches in the Asian competition so far, and the result of their work was one win, two draws and five defeats. Al-Ryan is the only Qatari team with four club points. Al-Shamal has five points, Al-Gharafa three points and Al-Sad three points, so that the Qatar average is 3.750.

Qatar has one more representative than Iran and will have four opportunities to earn points in each round, but the country's points are also divided among four teams. For this reason, the simultaneous failure of three Qatari representatives in the second week made their numerical advantage not help them and their distance from Iran increased.

The results of this season will not change the quotas for 2027-2028 and the case for the next season is closed and Iran has confirmed three quotas for the Elite League and one quota for the second level of the Champions League, and the current competition is to determine the quotas for the next two seasons, i.e. the 2028-2029 season. The third place in the West brings three direct quotas of the elite league, and falling to the fourth place will take one of these quotas from Iranian football.

Esteghlal beat Al-Sad and Al-Gharafa in two weeks and scored points for themselves and Iran's quota at the same time both times. The distance of 2.609 points is still not certain and unattainable, but the poor start of the four representatives of Qatar and the perfect performance of Esteghlal has made Iran have a more secure position in the competition to maintain three straight quotas after two weeks.

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Esteghlal Tehran football team will face Tractor Tabriz in the eighth week of the premier football league.

Esteghlal has faced an unexpected obstacle in the travel plan to attend Qatar and hold a match against Al-Gharafa. The Blues' request for a direct flight to Doha was not accepted due to the restrictions imposed on Iranian flights, and now the club officials are considering an alternative route.