This will be the third time in less than six months that Iran and Kazakhstan will have played against each other.
The Steppen Wolves have already beaten Team Melli in both home and away games, so they don’t have anything to prove at this point. They are the real deal.
Therefore, in this third round, it will be Iran’s time to prove itself that it is still among the elite teams in Asia.
Obviously, it won’t be able to prove that with just a win over Kazakhstan in the Group Phase, but it would be a nice start.
Iran will also play Syria and Japan in Pool C.