TEHRAN - Iran turned on the style to defeat Bhutan 7-1 in their AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 Qualifiers Group A match on Sunday.

Bhutan went into the game on the back of two straight wins but were no match for Iran, with both sides on six points heading into Wednesday’s ties that will see Iran facing Lebanon while Bhutan will play Jordan.

Iran enjoyed a storming start to the game, taking a 3-0 lead by the 10th minute.

Zahra Ghanbari lifted the ball to Zahra Alizadeh, who sidefooted the ball past Sangita Monger in the second minute with Alizadeh then crossing for Fatemeh Shaban to nod home four minutes later.

It got even better in the 10th minute when Monger pushed Shaban’s low shot onto the post but Negin Zandi was on hand to tap home the rebound, the-afc.com reported.

Bhutan steadied themselves to pull a goal back two minutes later when Pema Tshering broke through on the right, her cross hit Fatemeh Adeli, with Deki Lhazom smashing in the loose ball.

Bhutan’s hopes of further closing the gap took a knock in the 36th minute as Iran netted again after Fatemeh Pasandideh’s chip sent Zandi through, with the forward rounding Monger and slotting into the net.

Iran continued to boss the game after the break with Zandi smashing an effort into the side netting before Alizadeh’s wonderful lob over Monger was unfortunate to find the crossbar instead of the net.

Iran’s tenacity saw them add more goals late on through Ghanbari (81st), Mohaddeseh Zolfi (83rd) and Roujin Tamrian (85th) to put the seal on a dominant performance as they stayed on course for a place at the Finals.