Iran futsal rising star Torkaman call for more friendlies

TEHRAN – Maral Torkaman, a prominent member of the Iranian women’s national futsal team and a rising star in the sport, has emphasized the crucial need for more support if the national squad are to shine at the upcoming 2025 FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup.

The inaugural edition of the global tournament is set to be hosted in the Philippines from Nov. 21 to Dec. 7.

Recent days have seen significant developments within Iranian women’s futsal, notably the controversial appointment of Shahrzad Mozafar as the new head coach, replacing Forouzan Soleimani.

In an exclusive interview with Vatan News, Torkaman, 23, initially shared her views on the state of women’s futsal in Iran.

“Women’s futsal is growing,” she affirmed. “We have a dynamic league and a strong national team. In our league, the fight for the championship lasted until the very last day, showing how strong the competition was.”

Torkaman, who was the top scorer at the 2025 AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup in China, where the Iranian national team secured a third-place finish, also addressed the change in the national team’s coaching staff.

“I am always committed to helping my country’s national team and I will fight for it,” she stated. “I am also pleased with the selection of Ms. Mozafar. I haven’t worked with her before, but I hope to learn new things from her.”

Looking ahead to the 2025 World Cup, Torkaman acknowledged the formidable challenge. “Undoubtedly, all the teams participating in the World Cup will be well-prepared, arriving at the competition with good friendly matches and training camps,” she explained. “We are a big team in Asia, but to succeed in the World Cup, we need to exert several times more effort.”

Regarding her expectations from the Football Federation, the young futsal star expressed her desire for more comprehensive preparation.

“We performed well in the 2025 AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup, but because we were champions in the previous edition and finished third this time, there was a lot of criticism directed at our team,” Torkaman added. “For me, it was my first experience participating in these competitions, but it must be considered that with limited resources and a lack of warm-up games, one cannot expect too much from the Team Melli. The situation for the World Cup is similar, and the task is even more challenging.”

She concluded with a clear call for action: “We expect the Federation to arrange many suitable friendly matches with strong teams for the Iranian women’s futsal national team. We cannot only rely on the CAFA Women’s Futsal Championship for team preparation. We definitely need to play against bigger teams so that we don’t face difficulties in the World Cup and can deliver a good performance.”