In a match held at Wave Stadium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Pouria Shahrabadi opened the scoring for Iran in the 49th minute before Yousif Almarzooqi scored an own goal four minutes later to double the young Persians’ lead.
Mansoor Al-Menhali pulled a goal back for the UAE in the 57th minute, but Yousef Mazraeh restored Iran’s two-goal advantage by scoring their third with two minutes remaining.
Iran will play China and North Korea on Sept. 20 and 23, respectively in Group B.
The men's football tournament at the 2026 Asian Games is being held from Sept. 15 to Oct. 3 in Osaka, Toyota, Nagoya and Kariya in Japan.
South Korea are the defending champions.
MNA