Afghanistan defeats Cambodia 3-0 in World Cup Qualifier

Afghanistan’s national football (soccer) team defeated Cambodia 3-0 in a 2018 World Cup Qualifier match held Thursday at Takhti Stadium, in Tehran, Iran.

Hopes of going in even at half-time were slashed for Cambodia in the 42nd minute as Mustafa Zazai inflicted more pain on Cambodia on top of his late winner in Phnom Penh in June, finding the back of the net after Nen Sothearoth gave Zubayr Amiri too much room to enter the penalty box from the left wing.

Any possibility of a late comeback was put to bed in the 78th minute as more lax defending—this time from Nub Tola—allowed Noroallah Amiri too much space to smash the ball into the roof of the net.

Khaibar Amani added insult to injury in the 94th minute with a tidy finish after latching onto a through ball that split the Cambodian defense.

With this win, Afghanistan receives 6 points and now places 4th in Group E of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Interestingly enough, this was Afghanistan’s first match with their new head coach, Peter Segrt.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.