GROUP B
Iran World Cup profile: Guide to squad, record, path to final, manager, team news, latest odds and star man
Former Manchester United coach Carlos Queiroz is at the helm as Iranians search for success after their brave efforts in 2014
AFTER impressing in Brazil despite finishing bottom of their group, Iran are back for another shot at glory in Russia.
Carlos Quieroz's side eased through qualifying and are looking to advance through from the group stages for the first time.
7
Here's all you need to know about the Group B contenders, who face a tough first round against Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
In a nutshell: Football-obsessed nation with a chequered history in the event. They were the first team from the Asian Football Confederation to book their place at the 2018 World Cup Finals.
Flag: The post-revolution model features three horizontal bands of green, white and red and has the phrase "God Is Great" written 22 times in Arabic.
Population: 80.28 million
Nickname: Team Melli. It means "The National Team". Clever.
7
Manager: You’ll recognise this chap – it’s the former number two to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Carlos Quieroz.
World Cup news
Captain: At the time of writing it was former Fulham man, Ashkan Dejagah. Intriguingly, he represented Germany at every level from U-17
right through to U-21 (and even won the 2009 European U-21 Championship with them) before switching allegiance to Iran in 2011.
Star Man: Mehdi Taremi, winner of the Iranian Footballer of the Year Award for the last two years. He plays his club football for Al-Gharafa in Qatar.
Rising star: Sardar Azmoun. The Rubin Kazan striker may only be 23 but he’s already Iran’s fifth highest goalscorer of all time, having plundered a mind-boggling 22 goals in just 30 caps.
7
7
Road To Russia
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Second Round
16/06/15 Turkmenistan A 1-1
03/09/15 Guam H 6-0
08/09/15 India A 3-0
08/10/15 Oman A 1-1
12/11/15 Turkmenistan H 3-1
17/11/15 Guam A 6-0
24/03/16 India H 4-0
29/03/16 Oman H 2-0
Third Round
01/09/16 Qatar H 2-0
06/09/16 China PR A 0-0
06/10/16 Uzbekistan A 1-0
11/10/16 Korea Republic H 1-0
15/11/16 Syria A 0-0
23/03/17 Qatar A 1-0
28/03/17 China PR H 1-0
12/06/17 Uzbekistan H 2-0
31/08/17 Korea Republic A 0-0
05/09/17 Syria H 2-2
TOP SCORERS:
11 Sardar Azmoun
8 Mehdi Taremi
2 Jalal Hosseini
MOST APPEARANCES:
17 Vajed Amiri
16 Mehdi Taremi
14 Ramin Rezaeian
Most caps: Javad Nekounam (151)
All-time top scorer: Ali Daei (109)
Nice kit? Ice white with green splashes. Clean as a whistle.
Most offensive haircut? Ramin Rezaean’s fondness for an Alice band can’t go unmentioned, sorry.
Any names we can laugh at like kids? You could always call Dejagah "Mick" or even "Moves Like"…
7
Rivals? Obviously the clashes with Iraq are a little on the heated side but they didn’t make it through so we can all relax a little.
National anthem: The National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran is comparatively new, having only been adopted in 1990.
Sample lyric:
O Martyrs! Your clamours echo in the ears of time:
Enduring, continuing, and eternal,
The Islamic Republic of Iran
Wag watch: Iranian women aren’t actually allowed to watch men’s football. Women’s football is fine, just not the chaps.
7
7
National dish: Chelow kebab. No, not that kind of kebab.
National drink: Though alcohol is banned in Iran, there is still widespread drinking on the quiet. Arak, a vodka-like spirit, is very
popular even though the name translates literally as "perspiration".
Appearances in the Finals: P12 W1 D3 L8 F7 A22
World Cup Win Ratio: 8.3%
Best World Cup Performance: They’ve never been past the group stages.
FIFA World Ranking: 34
Iran's World Cup Squad
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beyranvand (Persepolis), Rashid Mazaheri (Zob Ahan), Amir Abedzadeh (Maritimo).
Defenders: Majid Hosseini (Esteghlal), Ramin Rezaeian (Ostende), Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh (Padideh), Morteza Pouraliganji (Alsaad), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Milad Mohammadi (Akhmat Grozny), Roozbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Ehsan Hajsafi (Olympiacos).
Midfielders: Saeid Ezatollahi (Amkar Perm), Masoud Shojaei (AEK Athens), Mehdi Torabi (Saipa), Omid Ebrahimi (Esteghlal), Karim Ansarifard (Olympiacos).
Forwards: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmaar), Mahdi Taremi (Al Gharafa), Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan), Reza Ghoochannejhad (Heerenveen), Saman Ghoddos (Ostersunds), Ashkan Dejagah (Nottingham Forest), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis).
Fans pack around a TV in an Egyptian cafe to see Mohamed Salah named African player of the year
Topics