Iran name 26-man World Cup squad as visa wait goes on | OneFootball

Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei has named his 26-man squad for the World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 19 July. Against a tense geopolitical backdrop with the United States, one of the hosts, the delegation has yet to receive visas.

According to L'Équipe, former Inter Milan and Porto striker Mehdi Taremi, now at Olympiacos, is included alongside Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the former Brighton winger. Defender Ehsan Hajsafi, on 145 caps, could become Iran’s most capped player if they clear the group for the first time and he features in every match.

Sardar Azmoun, who has 91 caps and 57 goals, has been left out after also being overlooked in March and omitted from the provisional list. Vice-president Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh had called for his reinstatement.

Drawn in Group G, Iran face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, then Egypt in Seattle, with all three group games in the United States.

The squad are due to fly shortly to Tijuana, Mexico, having switched their base camp from Tucson, Arizona.

Source: L'Équipe