Iran lost to Kuwait in the debut handball match of the Asian Games

Iran defeated China with a score of 3:1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) on Wednesday, thereby securing its participation in the AVC Continental Volleyball Championship 2026 for men.

The Melli team will play a quarter-final match against Chinese Taipei on Friday as part of this tournament.

Other quarter-final matches are scheduled between Japan and India, Thailand and Australia, as well as China and South Korea.

Winning this tournament will allow the team to secure a direct spot in the 2028 Olympic Games, while the three teams that finish in the prize positions will ensure themselves qualification spots for the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Championship.

Iran finished second in Group C of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup China 2027 qualifiers after defeating the hosts Vietnam 3-1 on Sunday, despite initially being behind.

Vietnam took the lead in the 41st minute when Dau Hong Phong crossed the ball for Nguyen Quoc Khanh, who scored by beating Iranian goalkeeper Amimakhdi Maghsoudi with a shot into the near corner.

Iran responded five minutes after the restart. A long cross from Amirmohammed Karimi caused confusion in the Vietnamese penalty area, and Aryan Maali managed to equalize after the hosts failed to repel the danger.

The visitors completed their comeback in the 63rd minute when Mahan Beheshti calmly converted a penalty, putting Iran ahead 2-1.

Iran sealed the victory deep into added time when Abolfazl Zadeh Attar successfully converted a penalty in the 95th minute, securing the 3-1 win.

This result allowed Iran to finish second in Group C, while Vietnam suffered a defeat at home despite an early goal.