Japan will face Australia in the semi-finals with the win also confirming them a place in the FIFA U20 World Cup Chile 2025.
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Iran went on the offensive from the first blow of the whistle with Japan keeper Rui Araki almost spilling Esmaeil Gholizadeh’s cross from the right following pressure from Mahan Sadeghi, before Sadeghi pulled his effort wide in the third minute from just above the box.
Japan were struggling to cope and Iran took advantage of free space down the middle in the fifth minute, Reza Ghandipour pouncing on the rebound following Gholizadeh’s attempt from inside a packed box to squeeze the ball into the bottom right corner.
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Japan calmed themselves down and their first chance came in the 12th minute when a swift attacking sequence saw Iran stretched at the back following Aren Inoue’s cutback to Soma Kanda, whose backheeled attempt from close range was smothered by keeper Arsha Shakouri.
Shakouri was tested again in the 22nd minute when he deflected Inoue’s shot from inside the box, leaving the Iranian defenders to scramble the rebound to safety but it was only a matter of time before Japan found a way through.
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It came in the 30th minute when Kose Ogura had time and space to line up his shot from distance, with the ball taking a deflection off Amirmohammad Razzaghini to beat a fully stretched Shakouri.
Japan came close to doubling their advantage a minute before the break with Shakouri showing quick reflexes to deny Inoue’s grounded effort from inside the area before Rion Ichihara saw his header sail over the bar.
Q-final: IR Iran v Japan
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Japan piled on the pressure at the start of the second period but Shakouri was on top of his game, perfectly placed to safely gather Hisatsugu Ishii’s strike before producing a fine save to deny Inoue’s header.
Iran had a chance to regain the lead in the 77th minute but Razzaghini struck his attempt over the bar off Abolfazl Moredi’s layoff while Shakouri made two brilliant saves in added on time as the match went into extra-time.
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Japan started the first period of extra-time just as they had ended the second half as they peppered the Iran goalmouth with shots, with only some steely defending keeping them at bay.
Iran continued to live dangerously as they conceded a free-kick at the start of the second period of extra-time but Shakouri pulled off another full length save to deny Ryunosuke Sato from just above the box.
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With both sides unable to find the winner, the tie went to penalties and despite Shakouri’s best efforts – scoring one and saving Japan’s third in the shootout – Iran’s Iran Erfan Darvish Aali and Pourya Shahrabadi missed the opening two efforts with Ichihara netting the winning spot-kick as Japan advanced to the semi-finals.
