TEHRAN (Xinhua) — Iran national soccer team coach Carlos Queiroz said Sunday that the match against Uzbekistan in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier is vital for his team.

Carlos Queiroz

Queiroz called for fans to pack out Tehran Azadi Stadium on Monday and to hopefully see the Iranian team advance to the World Cup to be held in Russia next year, according to Tehran Times daily. “Uzbekistan is strong and we need our fans as Iran’s 12th man. If we want to reach our standards we’ve planned, we need to concentrate 90 minutes, to show a good performance and to be strong both in attack and defence”, Queiroz said in the pre-match news conference here on Sunday.

Unbeaten in seven qualifying games, Iran have been the leader of Group A, having yet to concede a goal by overcoming the Uzbeks.

“In football you can’t achieve anything without hard work. We will see our match as a World Cup final. I am sure we will get a good result on Monday”, he was quoted as saying. “We know that Uzbekistan are candidate to finish the campaign as the first or second team. The match against Uzbekistan is our most important game in the competitions”, Queiroz said.

Iran will host third-placed Uzbekistan, knowing that a win will see the team advance to a second successive FIFA World Cup.