Iran national football team coach Amir Ghalenoei named his 26-man squad for the World Cup on Monday, with veteran forwards Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh included but long-time striker Sardar Azmoun omitted.
Azmoun, Iran’s second-highest scorer with 57 goals in 91 international appearances, was excluded from both the preliminary and final squads despite public calls from Vice President Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh for his return.
The 30-year-old, who plays for Shabab Al Ahli, was also left out of Iran’s squad in March. Local media reports suggested the omission was linked to an alleged act of disloyalty toward the government, though no official explanation was provided by the federation.
Taremi, 33, and former Brighton & Hove Albion winger Jahanbakhsh will spearhead Iran’s attack at the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
After months of uncertainty surrounding travel and security arrangements, Iran received approval from FIFA to relocate their World Cup training base from Arizona to the Mexican border city of Tijuana.
Iran will play all three group-stage matches in the United States, beginning against the New Zealand national football team in Los Angeles on June 15. They then face the Belgium national football team on June 21, also in Los Angeles, before taking on the Egypt national football team in Seattle on June 26.
Iran 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 and Shahriar Moghanlou.
