St. Petersburg (Russia) : The Indian U-17 football World Cup team lost 0-1 against Iran in the Granatkin Tournament here on Tuesday.

The Indian colts will now face Tajikistan in a play-off match on January 20 for the 15th-16th positions in a tournament that featured 16 teams.

The Indian team dominated the early proceedings and in the eighth minute Abhijit Sarkar failed to tap the ball home into an empty net.

Iran went ahead in the 40th minute as Sharifi scored.

India upped the ante in the second half but Abhijit Sarkar and his team-mates failed to finish off promising moves, eventually going down 0-1.-Agency