For the first time in the history of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Iran won a bronze medal, as they claimed third place after a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Portugal following a 2-2 draw. The Iranians came from two goals down to take the third-place match to a dramatic penalty shootout, where six rounds of spot kicks were needed to decide the contest. This is the first time ever an Asian team reached the third place.
Iran achieved another first, when reigning and record futsal world champion Brazil was eliminiated in the round of 16, in a thriller that started with Brazil leading 3:1 against Iran and then losing on penalties after Iran fought back to a 4:4 draw. Brazilian futsal legend, Falcao, scored three goals, in what turned out to be his final game and as one, the entire Iran team went to Falcao to say their own farewells, throwing him into the air in celebration of a career that has left an indelible mark on futsal.
Last but not least, Iranian pivot Ahmad Esmaeilpour won the Bronze Ball. He is the first Asian player to be selected as one of the tournament’s top three players.
Iran futsal team celebrates after winning on penalty kicks against Portugal at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo IRNA)
Iran futsal team celebrates after winning on penalty kicks against Portugal at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo by Ian MacNicol – FIFA via Getty Images)
Players of Iran pose for a team photo before the bronze medal match – Iran vs. Portugal at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo by Alex Caparros – FIFA via Getty Images)
Iran futsal team celebrates after winning on penalty kicks against Portugal at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo IRNA)
Best players at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia – Golden Ball winner Fernando Wilhelm of Argentina (C), Silver Ball winner Eder Lima of Russia (L) and Bronze Ball winner Ahmad Esmaeilpour of Iran (R) – (Photo by Gabriel Aponte – FIFA via Getty)
Iran players pose with their bronze medals at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia – (Photo by Jan Kruger – FIFA via Getty)
Iran futsal team celebrates after winning on penalty kicks against Brazil at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo by Victor Decolongon – FIFA via Getty Images)
Iran’s team players throw in the air Brazilian player Falcao as they celebrate their victory over Brazil at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo by Guillermo Legaria – AFP)
Goalkeeper Alireza Samimi of Iran gets a hand on the ball for the save – Iran vs. Brazil at the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia (Photo by Victor Decolongon – FIFA via Getty Images)
Team Iran celebrate on the court after their quarterfinal match against Paraguay at the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia (Photo by Victor Decolongon – FIFA via Getty Images)
Ali Hassan Zadeh of Iran (C) celebrates his goal with team mates during the semi-final match between Iran and Russia at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia. (Photo by Jan Kruger – FIFA via Getty Images)
The 8th edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup was held in Colombia from September 10th to October 1st, 2016.
Iranian squad
Goalkeepers: Sepehr Mohammadi (1) and Alireza Samimi (2). Defenders: Mohammad Keshavarz (4), Hamid Ahmadi (5), Afshin Kazemi (9) and Farhad Tavakoli (13). Wings: Mohammadreza Sangsefidi (6), Ali Hassan Zadeh (7), Ghodrat Bahadori (8), Mohammad Taheri (10), Mehran Alighadr (11). Pivots: Ahmad Esmaeilpour (3), Hossein Tayebi (12) and Mahdi Javid (14). Coach: Seyed Nazemalsharieh.
Brazil defeated Iran 4 to 3 to win the final game of the 2015 Futsal Grand Prix in Uberaba, Brazil.
Iran advanced to the finals after defeating Paraguay 2:0 and after achieving 9 of 9 possible points in Pool B by winning 7:3 against Uruguay, 4:1 against Colombia and 7:0 against Angola.
The host nation is the most successful team in the history of the tournament with nine titles while Spain has won the competition once in 2010. Iran has finished in second place three times and in third place two times out of ten editions.
The Grand Prix de Futsal, first held in 2005, is an international futsal competition of the same kind of the FIFA Futsal World Championship but with invited nations and held annually in Brazil.
The other Iran 