Tajikistan 2-2 Iran Highlights, CAFA Nations Cup: India Manage To Seal Third-Place Playoff Berth

Greetings and welcome to everyone joining us this Thursday evening. We are back with another football blog, and this time is a high-stakes clash between home team Tajikistan and Asian powerhouse Iran in the CAFA Nations Cup.

The match kicks off at 9pm IST. The Tajikistan vs Iran, CAFA Nations Cup 2025 match will not be live-streamed on any platforms in India. It will also not be televised on any TV channels in the country.

The match gets underway at the Hisor Central Stadium. Remember that India need Iran to beat Tajikistan, so as to finish second and seal a berth for the CAFA Nations Cup third-place match.

In the preceding match of the evening, the Indian football team could not make use of the chances that came its way and was held to a 0-0 draw by Afghanistan. The Blue Tigers finished their Group B engagements with four points from three games. India had lost to Afghanistan in their last meeting during the second round 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in March 2024.

Mohammad Mohebi puts Iran ahead in the 38th minute. The group leaders get the goal they needed and are now in prime position to seal a final berth. Tajikistan must equalise if they are to harbour any hopes of advancing to the third-place match.

The first half ends with the scoreline reading 1-0 in favour of Iran. Indian football faithfuls are following this game with keen interest, and would want Iran to continue leading so that the Blue Tigers advance to the third-place match ahead of Tajikistan.

That could well be the game. Mohammad Mohebi nets his second as Iran strike two minutes into the second half and now have a 2-0 lead, which means Tajikistan need at least two goals to keep India from finishing second in Group B.

Is there still some drama left? Tajikistan pull one back courtesy Shahrom Samiev in the 58th minute, which means they have taken the first step towards trying to fight for the second place in the group. Another goal would them put them ahead of India provisionally in the standings, granted Iran do not score again.

What a fightback from Tajikistan! They have found the equaliser in the 78th minute via Zoir Dzhuraboev. Another goal could make things very interesting.

The match ends with a 2-2 scoreline. Tajikistan have fought back admirably to hold mighty Iran to a draw, but it is not enough for the hosts to advance to the third-place match.

Though India and Tajikistan both finish with four points in the group stage and the hosts have a superior goal difference of +1 as against the Blue Tigers' -2, it is Khalid Jamil's men who go through to the third-place match, on account of a better head-to-head record.

For the third-place playoff, India will take on the team that finishes second in Group A. As it stands, Oman and Uzbekistan are locked on four points apiece, occupying the top two spots in the group. One of these two teams is likely to be India's opponent in the playoff encounter.

The third-place playoff of CAFA Nations Cup will be played at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisor, Tajikistan on September 8. That is when India take the pitch next, hoping for a better performance than the 0-0 stalemate against Afghanistan, earlier today.

Before we close for the night, check out our match report and explainer on how India advanced to the third-place playoff, despite equal points and a worse goal difference than Tajikistan.