Iran ready for 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup: Jafari

TEHRAN – Marzieh Jafari, head coach of Iran’s women’s national football team, says Team Melli Banovan are well prepared for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which will be held in Australia.

Iran have been drawn in Group A alongside Australia, South Korea, and the Philippines. The team will begin their campaign on March 5 against the hosts, Australia.

“I have been with the national team since May. Under very difficult circumstances, including the 12-day war, we traveled to the qualification tournament and ultimately secured a place in the Asian Cup. After that, we played several friendly matches. We won a tournament in India and then faced Uzbekistan in additional friendlies. Although we did not have a full squad available for those matches, we delivered strong performances,” Jafari said.

“When I was offered the role of head coach, few people expected me to take charge because we had very limited time to prepare. I carefully considered whether I could help under those conditions. No one expected this team to qualify for the 2026 Asian Cup. We cannot expect miracles from the national team. The team need a long-term program, and discussions have been held to implement such a plan in the future,” she added.

Iran captain Zahra Ghanbari also acknowledged the challenge ahead.

“We cannot set qualification as an expectation for this team. We face a difficult task and are grouped with strong opponents. We will try to achieve the best possible results in Australia,” she said.

“The national team is a mix of experienced and young players. We will support these young talents so that we can achieve better results in the future,” Ghanbari concluded.