TEHRAN - Iran and Uzbekistan will face off in an AFC Futsal Asian Cup Indonesia 2026 last eight tie on Tuesday that promises to be an edge-of-the-seat encounter.

Iran, record 13-time titleholders, beat Afghanistan 5-2 on Sunday to end their group stage campaign with a flawless run while Uzbekistan advanced despite losing 2-1 to four-time champions Japan.

Iran went three up against their Central Asian counterparts before surviving a scare and securing victory in the last five minutes. They had earlier booked their ticket after defeating Malaysia and then subduing Saudi Arabia, the-afc.com reported.

Head coach Vahid Shamsaee was not too happy despite their win.

“We had some problems with timing and with the court,” he said. “Both teams have technical players so it was difficult to move the ball given the conditions.”

He was philosophical about the Uzbekistan showdown. 

“Uzbekistan are one of the best teams in Asia and in the history of the tournament, they have always been part of the last four. It is unfortunate that two of the bigger names have to face each other and one of them will have to leave, but this is part of life and part of the game.”

Four-time runners-up Uzbekistan, who played out a stalemate with Tajikistan before beating Australia, took the lead against Japan but allowed the East Asian side to dominate the second half and wrap the game up in the last 10 minutes. 

Head coach Nodir Elibaev, however, is confident his side are capable of more.

“The players need to know that a match lasts 40 minutes, so we must concentrate on every minute,” he said. “We have to analyse our mistakes (against Japan) and fix them because Iran will score against us if we continue doing the same things.

“We don't choose our opponents and Iran are very strong, but we came here only to win.”

The match will be held at the Jakarta International Velodrome.