Gao Hongbo stopped short of criticising the referee after his China side picked up their first point of the final phase of Asia's World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw with Iran in Shenyang.

China lost their opening game against South Korea 3-2 on Thursday and could not afford to slip up again against Carlos Queiroz's team.

Gao was pleased his side had emerged with something from a difficult start to their attempt qualify for Russia, though he declined to comment on claims China...

After only three months in the job, former Iran head coach Afshin Ghotbi has been sacked by Premier League of Thailand champions Buriram United.

Ghotbi was shown the door on Saturday night, despite guiding Buriram to a 2-1 victory at Army United FC.

The win took the Thunder Castle to third on the table -- the top three in Thailand have a chance at playing in the AFC Champions League -- but the club are 19 points behind leaders, Muang Thong United.

Ghotbi was only appointed in May, taking over from...

Hosts Singapore turned in a battling display but came up short in the inaugural FAS Under-21 International Challenge Cup after they were beaten 1-0 by Iran in Saturday night's final at Bishan Stadium.

Mehdi Mehdikhani grabbed the only goal of the game shortly after the half-hour mark to win it for the Iranians, although they did have to weather some late pressure as the hosts searched desperately for an equaliser.

The defeat means Singapore are have now lost their past three meetings against Iran...

Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz says that both South Korea and Qatar should be considered favourites, ahead of them, to progress to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

That's despite Team Melli being Asia's highest ranked nation at 42nd in the world.

The Iranians were drawn in Group A alongside the Koreans, Qatar, China, Uzbekistan and Syria, with their opening game at home to the Qataris, 2022 World Cup hosts, on Sep.. 1.

"In our group, in the front line you have, for sure, the Koreans who are in front...

Thailand's head coach Kiatisuk 'Zico' Senamuang insists his side are ready to spring a surprise despite being drawn in a tough group B for the final phase of AFC qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Thais have been placed in what looks the more difficult of the two qualifying groups, facing Asian champions Australia, regular World Cup finalists Japan and Middle Eastern heavyweights Saudi Arabia. They also have to play Iraq again -- having faced them in the previous round -- and the United...