TEHRAN – Iran edged past Japan 1-0 on Thursday to book a place at the IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships semi-final.

Behzad Zadaliasghari scored the only goal of the match.

Team Melli will play Group A’s second-place team on Saturday.

Iran, Rio 2016 silver-medalist, have already defeated Malaysia 4-0 and Oman 10-0 in the competition.

The 2019 IBSA Blind Football Asian Championships in being held in Pattaya, Thailand, from Sept. 30th to Oct. 7th.

The top two teams at the competition will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The 2019 Asian Championships are the 8th edition of the event, which took place for the first time in 2005 in Vietnam.