Iran gave away an early two-goal lead and again only drew in World Cup qualification. Spectacular goals from Nikbakht (2') and Hosseini (4') ended Iran's goaldrought, however, defensive blunders caused Iran giving away two important points.

Ali Daei, in his first competitive match as Iran boss, changed the team which had lost in Bahrain on two positions. Saipa defender Majid Gholamnejad replaced Hossein Kaebi as rightback and Mehrzad Madanchi came on for Mohsen Khalili.

But the 2-0 lead didn't boost Iran, instead the guests played rather passively and therefore completely unnecessarily allowed Kuwait to find back into the game.

However, due to the 1-1 draw between Syria and the UAE, Iran stand in second position of the table which would be enough to advance to the next stage of World Cup qualification.

Source: PersianFootball