France, Iran accused of "not wanting to win" to meet Thailand at Futsal World Cup

Before the final match, France and Iran were both assured of advancing with 6 points, after two wins over Venezuela and Guatemala. Iran was rated higher as it was ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, six places above France.

The winner of this pair will top Group F and advance to the round of 16 to face the world's sixth-ranked Morocco, and if they advance, will likely meet the number one Brazil in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the runner-up in Group F will enter an easier bracket, facing Thailand (10) in the round of 16, Paraguay (13) or Afghanistan (30) in the quarter-finals.

At the Bukhara University Gymnasium, France and Iran drew 0-0 in the first half, with the spirit of the match being questioned. "The two teams played as if they did not want to win," wrote an article in a Thai newspaper.Siam Sports"Many fans in the stands booed, especially the Iranians who came in large numbers," he said.

In the second half, Salar Aghapour opened the scoring for Iran in the 25th minute. He dribbled easily before unleashing a weak and dangerous shot, but the opposing defender made a superficial block, and goalkeeper Thibaut Garros suddenly made a move as if to pull his leg back to let the ball roll into the net. After that, Iran scored 3 more goals thanks to Moslem Oladghobad in the 28th minute, Alireza Rafieipour in the 30th minute and Aghapour in the 37th minute. France scored an honorary goal 15 seconds later to end the match with a score of 1-4.

On social mediaReddit, "goalkeeper deliberately conceded a goal to avoid Brazil" became a hot topic. PageFutsal Planetdescribed: "We are really sorry but this is not a match, but a futsal defeat. The goals in the second half cannot help regain the lost image".

On the pageInstagramPersonally, Thailand futsal team coach Miguel Rodrigo wrote a 2,010-word post expressing his disappointment with Iran and France. He even tagged both the official FIFA page and the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024.

The Spanish coach called all members of the French and Iranian Football Federations in the stands, as well as the coaches and players of both teams on the field, "a disgrace to futsal". He asserted that the two teams "did not play for real", but "played to lose" because no one wanted to hit the goal.

Rodrigo wrote: "The two teams disgust me, make me lose respect as colleagues and players. They should never set foot on a futsal field again. They are enemies of fair play and the values ​​of a professional athlete. They should be ashamed to hear their country's national anthem again."

Rodrigo - former Vietnam futsal coach from 2017 to 2019 - also accused Iran of doing the same thing, when they deliberately lost 1-2 to Argentina in the final round of Group F of the 2021 Futsal World Cup in Lithuania. Iran is said to have wanted to avoid the draw with Russia and Brazil. They then beat Uzbekistan 9-8 in the round of 16, but lost 2-3 to Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.

Iran Futsal is the strongest in Asia, with 13 championships in 17 Asian Cups. At the World Cup, they have advanced past the group stage five times in nine appearances, with their best result being a bronze medal in 2016.

Meanwhile, France is ranked 10th in FIFA, but is participating in the World Cup for the first time. In Europe, France has only participated in the Euro futsal finals once in 2022, after 13 times the tournament has been organized.

The 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup will be held in Uzbekistan from September 14 to October 6. The 24 participating teams will be divided into six groups and will compete in a round-robin format, with the six first-place teams, six second-place teams, and four third-place teams advancing to the round of 16.

Thailand is the only Southeast Asian representative to be present. The team is in Group B, winning Croatia 2-1, Cuba 10-5 and losing to Brazil 1-9. Thailand will play France on September 27, if they win, they will enter the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in history.