HONG KONG (Reuters) - Iran coach Carlos Queiroz has urged the country's authorities to commit more funding to the preparations for next year's World Cup finals or risk elimination in the group stages yet again. Queiroz's side became the first team from Asia to book their ticket for Russia in June and next summer's tournament will be the fifth time Iran have appeared at the World Cup finals. Iran will play Togo on Sept 29 before taking on World Cup hosts Russia six days later. "My short term target is to be sure we have an outstanding, unique and challenging World Cup preparation and I will try my best to be different," said Queiroz. This is the fifth World Cup.

Source: The Star September 11, 2017 10:07 UTC