PETALING JAYA: The national football team are in for a trial by fire at the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup after being drawn into a challenging group.

But head coach Peter Cklmovski hopes the team would come out of the ‘’test’’ stronger and wiser against some of Asia’s best at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisar, Tajikistan. from Aug 28-Sept 8.

The Harimau Malaya have been drawn into Group B together with world No. 18 Iran, Tajikistan (No. 104) and Afghanistan (No. 160) in the draw conducted on Thursday.

They will play hosts Tajikistan first on Aug 29, followed by Iran (Sept 1) and Afghanistan (Sept 4).

Cklamovaki is looking forward to the meeting against the strongest team Iran.

“We get to open the tournament against Tajikistan. We are looking forward to an exciting game,” said the Australian.

“It would be a hostile environment and the atmosphere would be electric. Good test away from home,” said the Australian.

“The group stage format has short turnarounds between games. Game two is against Iran, ranked 18th in the world, and a team in the World Cup. Massive challenge and opportunity for us.

“We will use it to benchmark ourselves against the best. We want to test our football against theirs and try the hardest we can. Then we play against Afghanistan.”

Iran, known as Team Melli, have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, which is their seventh time.

The Middle East nation also won the Asian Cup three times in 1968, 1972 and 1976 and boast some world-class talents in their squad.

In attack, they have Inter Milan striker Mehdi Taremi, and in midfield, they have Heerenveen winger Alireza Jahanbaksh.

In defence, Dinamo Zagreb’s Sadegh Moharrami is the centreback and Alireza Beiranvand, known for having the farthest distance throw of a football in the world (61m), remains their top goalkeeper.

Malaysia, ranked 131 in the world, will surely hope to produce some good performances in Tajikistan is order to move up the world rankings.

The tournament experience would also be the best preparation before they take on Laos in the 2027 Asian Cup third-round qualifiers in October.

Malaysia under Cklamovski have impressed this year, especially in the 2027 Asian Cup third-round qualifiers, where they have started their campaign unbeaten, beating Nepal 2-0 and Vietnam 4-0.