TEHRAN - While victory may not be enough, Iran will go for broke when they face Lebanon in their concluding AFC U23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 Group C match on Tuesday.

Omid Ravankhah’s side chances also hinge on the outcome of the Korea Republic and Uzbekistan tie – if there is an outright winner there and Iran also come out tops, both victors will advance.

The central Asian side are on two points but regardless of the group outcome, head coach Ravankhah is confident his men have the advantage over Lebanon.

“Our team has the best players, and one yhing going for us is that we have had very few injuries so we are able to play more consistently,” said the 38-year-old. “So far, no other teams have been able to play like us, which shows that we have strong technical staff.”

“Nonetheless, we will perform better against Lebanon, with more concentration and determination and hopefully, we will score in the next game.”

Debutants Lebanon have only pride to play for after losing 3-2 to Uzbekistan and 4-3 to Korea Republic, and head coach Jamal Taha will work on ensuring his players are ready for another tough outing, the-afc.com reported.

“Our players need to strengthen their mindset, and not think about the match against Korea Republic (where they led twice before losing),” said Taha. “We have a good team and I want them to play their final game in the style of Lebanese football.

“We faced 2018 champions Uzbekistan, 2020 winners Korea Republic and now a strong Iranian side,” he added. But we knew from the beginning that this would be a very difficult group.”

This will be the first meeting between Iran and Lebanon at the AFC Asian Cup; Iran have, however, lost each of their last two games when facing a side for the first time in the competition ( a 2-1 loss against Korea Republic on 12 January 2020 & a 2-1 loss against Turkmenistan on 4 June 2022).

Iran have failed to win a game in each of their last five AFC U23 Asian Cup games, only Malaysia (7) and Yemen (6) have a longer active streak in the competition.

Farzin Moamelegari (Iran) has won more fouls in the outgoing AFC U23 Asian Cup edition, only Thanawut Phochai (9) has won more fouls this term than the Iranian.

The match will be held at the Al Shabab Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.