TEHRAN - Al Hussein of Jordan came from behind to defeat Iran's Esteghlal 3-2 in the second leg of their AFC Champions League Two 2025/26 Round of 16 on Tuesday.

The Jordanian side advanced 4-2 on aggregate and will meet either Iran’s or Al Ahli of Qatar in the quarter-finals.

Chasing a one-goal deficit, Esteghlal put Al Hussein under early pressure with Saed Al Rosan scrambling to clear Saleh Hardani’s cross into the box, before the Jordanian side conceded a penalty in the fourth minute.

Pedro Henrique ended Mohammadhossein Eslami’s surging run inside the box, prompting the referee to point to the spot following a VAR review with Jasir Asani converting from the spot to put Esteghlal ahead.

Despite struggling to get past Esteghlal’s disciplined defense, Al Hussein almost found a way in the 38th minute with Mahmoud Al Mardi wriggling his way through only to find the side netting from an acute angle, the-afc.com reported.

The goal finally arrived for the home side two minutes later when Ali Hajabi powered home a header from Al Mardi’s corner to level the tie on the night and put Al Hussein ahead on aggregate going into the break.

The advantage, however, was wiped out four minutes into the second half with Asani doubling his tally after pouncing on a loose ball and sending a curling effort past Al Hussein custodian Yazeed Abulaila.

Esteghlal came close to going ahead again in the 61st minute when Eslami sent a teasing cross off a set-piece situation into the box for Rouzbeh Cheshmi who, however, sent his effort right into the gloves of Abulaila.

Al Hussein introduced Obieda Al Namarnah and Yousef Abu Al Jazar into the mix and the decision paid off handsomely with the latter reacting instinctively in the 76th minute to steer Aref Al Haj’s miscued shot into the back of the net after the Esteghlal keeper had spilled Yousef Abu Jalboush’s cross.

Esteghlal threw bodies forward in the remaining minutes to salvage their campaign but it was to no avail as Al Hussein scored their third through Obieda Al Namarnah in the fifth minute of added on time to book their spot in the quarter-finals.