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The Iran World Cup 2026 squad will be the fourth in a row to represent the nation at the finals.
They've failed to make it past the group stage in any of their previous appearances and will be hoping they can change that at World Cup 2026 despite having one of the more inexperienced squads in the tournament.
Belgium will be the Group G favourites and Iran will need a result against Egypt or New Zealand to achieve their best-ever World Cup performance.
Iran's participation has been in doubt ever since they qualified. The outbreak of war, the devastating human impact and the fact that one of the World Cup host nations is bombing their cities and openly aggressive to the idea of their presence at the tournament puts the whole tournament into perspective.
Their last four matches were against World Cup debutants Cape Verde and Uzbekistan, and Nigeria and Gambia, who failed to qualify. Having beaten only the last of those, Iran's prospects in the summer would appear meagre.
Much of their squad plays their football in the Middle East, with a few players playing in Europe, notably captain Mehdi Taremi. He now plays for Olympiacos and is Iran's third all-time top scorer with 56 goals.
Ali Daei is their all-time top goalscorer, with 108 goals in 148 games, and he is also the third highest scorer in international football history behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Squad
Iran World Cup 2026 squad: The final selection
- GK: Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor)
- GK: Payam Niazmand (Persepolis)
- GK: Hossein Hosseini (Sepahan)
- DF: Saleh Hardani (Esteghlal)
- DF: Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan)
- DF: Shojae Khalilzadeh (Tractor)
- DF: Milad Mohammadi (Persepolis)
- DF: Hossein Kanaanizadegan (Persepolis)
- DF: Aria Yousefi (Sepahan)
- DF: Ali Nemati (Foolad)
- DF: Ramin Rezaeian (Foolad)
- DF: Danial Eiri (Malavan)
- MF: Saeid Ezatolahi (Shabab Al-Ahli)
- MF: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Dender)
- MF: Mohammad Mohebi (Rostov)
- MF: Saman Ghoddos (Kalba)
- MF: Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal)
- MF: Mahdi Torabi (Tractor)
- MF: Mohammad Ghorbani (Al-Wahda)
- MF: Amirmohammad Razzaghinia (Esteghlal)
- FW: Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos)
- FW: Mehdi Ghayedi (Al-Nasr)
- FW: Ali Alipour (Persepolis)
- FW: Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (Tractor)
- FW: Shahriyar Moghanlou (Kalba)
- FW: Dennis Eckert (Standard Liege)
Fixtures
- June 04, 2026: Iran vs Mali, Mardan Stadyumu, Antalya, Turkey
- June 15, 2026: Iran vs New Zealand, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, United States
- June 21, 2026: Belgium vs Iran, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, United States
- June 27, 2026: Egypt vs Iran, Lumen Field, Seattle, United States
Recent Results
- May 29, 2026: Iran vs Gambia, Mardan Stadyumu, Antalya, Turkey
- March 27, 2026: Iran 1-2 Nigeria, Corendon Airlines Park, Antalya, Turkey
- November 18, 2025: Uzbekistan 0-0 Iran (4-3 pens), Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, UAE
- November 13, 2025: Cape Verde 0-0 Iran (4-5 pens), Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, UAE
- October 14, 2025: Iran 2-0 Tanzania, Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran
- October 10, 2025: Russia 2-1 Iran, VTB Arena, Moscow, Russia
- June 10, 2025: Iran 3-0 North Korea, Imam Reza Stadium, Mashhad, Iran
- June 05, 2025: Qatar 1-0 Iran, Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar
- March 25, 2025: Iran 2-2 Uzbekistan, Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran
- March 20, 2025: Iran 2-0 United Arab Emirates, Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran
Group G standings
Iran are in Group G at World Cup 2026.
Manager
Who is Iran's manager?
Amir Ghalenoei is in his second stint in charge of the Iranian national football team.
His first spell saw him in the dugout for 17 games between 2007 and 2008, of which he only lost one. His second has seen him lose only a handful of games, though Iran's more recent fortunes have been affected by more serious matters..
Italian analyst and coach Antonio Gagliardi, who has been part of Italy and Juventus’ backroom staff, has been added to the staff with the expectation he will take over after the World Cup.
Star player
Who is Iran's star player?
Mehdi Taremi now plays for Olympiacos having moved to Greece last summer in search of regular minutes ahead of the World Cup.
In 39 appearances for his club he has scored 16 goals, firing in 10 goals in 24 league games and netting in the Champions League against Real Madrid.
If Iran want to get out of the group stage for the first time ever, they will need him at his best.
Best XI
