Iran name World Cup squad: No recall for Sardar Azmoun, Taremi and Jahanbakhsh to lead line
Sardar Azmoun has been left out of Iran’s 26-man World Cup squad as expected, with head coach Amir Ghalenoei set to rely on Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh for firepower this summer.
Azmoun, who has scored 57 goals in 91 appearances for his country, was omitted from the preliminary long list, and Ghalenoei has not rowed back the decision — despite Iran’s vice president, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, calling for the 31-year-old’s return.
Taremi, 33, who plays for Olympiacos and has scored 60 goals in over 100 caps, and former Brighton and Hove Albion winger Jahanbakhsh, 32, will instead lead Iran’s front line at the tournament in North America this summer.
Last week, FIFA confirmed that the Iranian national team officially moved its base camp for the competition from the United States to Tijuana, Mexico — amid the ongoing military conflict between the U.S. and Iran which has had a significant impact on their World Cup preparations.
Iran have faced months of uncertainty over travel and security arrangements for the tournament since the war began on February 28. The U.S. and Israel targeted the nation with military strikes that killed their supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompting Iran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Iran had previously planned to be based in Tucson, Arizona.
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has previously said he does not think it would be “appropriate” for Iran to participate in the World Cup “for their own life and safety”, while there has been speculation that they could re-locate their group stage matches from the U.S. to Mexico or Canada, who are co-hosting the tournament.
However, Iran remain scheduled to play all three of their group matches in the U.S. — against New Zealand on June 15, Belgium on June 21 (both in Los Angeles), and Egypt on June 27 in Seattle.
Iran are currently at a training camp at Turkey, with 31 players — two (Mohammad Khalife, a goakeeper, and Omid Noorafkan) on standby, and three others who have been offered the chance to travel to Mexico to help maintain team spirit.
‘A situation fraught with uncertainty’
Analysis by senior writer Adam Leventhal
Ever since the war between the U.S. and Iran began on February 28, the Middle East nation’s participation in the tournament has been fraught with uncertainty. That hasn’t changed even though a nominal ceasefire is currently in place.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has maintained throughout that Iran would take part and insisted there would be no “plan B, C, D or E”. As it stands, the team is heading to play in the tournament, however there has been an alteration, with the team abandoning plans to be based in Arizona and instead opting to use Mexico as camp.
They have been preparing in Antalya, Turkey for the last two weeks, where Infantino visited the squad and management for talks in March. During friendly matches in that international break players held up schoolbags and pictures of those who had died — including children — in bombing raids in Iranian cities. They have one final warm-up game against Mali on Thursday before they fly to Mexico for the tournament, however precise travel details are not finalised yet.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the current administration’s concerns over the team being used as cover for “IRGC terrorists” getting into the country, and therefore Iran’s movement from Mexico to games in L.A. and Seattle will be closely scrutinised.
However much FIFA want to separate politics and football and use the sport to try and act as a force for good, Iran’s presence at the World Cup is certain to bring with it a narrative that transcends what happens on the pitch.
Iran’s 26-man squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor), Seyed Hossein Hosseini (Sepahan), Payam Niazmand (Persepolis)
Defenders: Danial Eiri (Zob Ahan Esfahan), Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan), Saleh Hardani (Esteghlal), Hossein Kanaani (Persepolis), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Tractor), Milad Mohammadi (Persepolis), Ali Nemati (Foolad), Ramin Rezaeian (Foolad)
Midfielders: Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Saeid Ezatolahi (Shabab Al Ahli), Mehdi Ghaedi (Al-Nasr), Saman Ghoddos (Kalba), Mohammad Ghorbani (Al Wahda), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Dender), Mohammad Mohebi (Rostov), Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia (Esteghlal), Mehdi Torabi (Tractor), Aria Yousefi (Sepahan)
Forwards: Ali Alipour (Persepolis), Dennis Dargahi (Standard Liege), Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (Tractor), Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos), Shahriar Moghanlou (Kalba)