Iran have unveiled their 26-man squad for the upcoming World Cup, with coach Amir Ghalenoei opting for the experience of Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but notably excluding prolific striker Sardar Azmoun.
Azmoun, who boasts an impressive record of 57 goals in 91 international appearances, was a significant omission from both the preliminary and final selections. His exclusion comes despite a public plea for his return from Iran's Vice President, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh. The Shabab Al-Ahli player was also left out of the national team in March, with local media reports suggesting he had been expelled for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government.
Leading the attack for Iran will be the 33-year-old Taremi, who plays for Olympiacos, alongside former Brighton & Hove Albion winger Jahanbakhsh. The tournament is set to take place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July.
The Iranian squad has faced months of uncertainty regarding travel and security arrangements due to the nation’s ongoing conflict with the US and Israel. They will now base themselves in the Mexican border city of Tijuana during the finals, following Fifa's approval to relocate their training camp from Arizona.
Iran are scheduled to play all three of their group matches on American soil. Their campaign begins against New Zealand on 15 June in Los Angeles, followed by a clash with Belgium on 21 June, also in Los Angeles. They will then face Egypt five days later in Seattle.
Iran have never progressed beyond the group stage at the World Cup but will hope to create history at this summer’s tournament. They were in the same group as England in Wales in 2022, and managed to beat the latter, but they still failed to make the knockout rounds.
Iran World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand, Seyed Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand
Defenders: Danial Eiri, Ehsan Hajsafi, Saleh Hardani, Hossein Kanaani, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Milad Mohammadi, Ali Nemati, Ramin Rezaeian
Midfielders: Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Mehdi Ghaedi, Saman Ghoddos, Mohammad Ghorbani, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebi, Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, Mehdi Torabi, Aria Yousefi
Forwards: Ali Alipour, Dennis Dargahi, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Taremi, Shahriar Moghanlou
