Iran Press/ Middle East: Iran's national football team (Team Melli) convoy to Qatar arrived in Doha on Monday evening to take part in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Team Melli will begin its World Cup campaign against England on Nov. 21 in Group B before facing Wales four days later. The last game of the group stage will be against the United States on Nov. 29.
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Previous appearences
At 20, Iran is the top Asian team in the FIFA rankings, above Japan and South Korea.
Here is a short summary of the history of Iran's participation in the biggest football event.
Previous World Cup appearances: 1978,1998, 2006, 2014, 2018
Titles: 0
Best finish: Group stage
World Cup record: W2, D4, L9
Goals: 9
Biggest win: 2-1 vs USA (1998)
Key player: Mehdi Taremi
Ranking: 20
Fixtures: England (November 21), Wales (November 25), USA (November 29)
Difficult task in Group B
Team Melli is part of the only group in the World Cup where all teams are in the top 20 in global rankings.
Iran will be aiming to secure a first-ever knockout stage spot at a World Cup as they make the short trip to Qatar for the 2022 tournament.
After finishing as the top Asian qualifier for the competition, confidence has quietly grown over Iran being able to pull off an upset.
As part of Group B, alongside England, Wales and the United States, Iran will fancy their chances of potentially ending their last-16 frustration.
Group B at the FIFA 2022 World Cup offers up arguably some of the most mouthwatering matchups of the whole tournament in Qatar, with the United States and England headlining what promises to be a fascinating pool.
The USA have played both England and fellow Group B opposition Iran in previous World Cups, including when the USMNT famously stunned England to knock them out in 1950. The pair met again in 2010 and shared a draw that saw the US top that group in South Africa.
England will start this tournament as the strong bookmakers' choice to top the group-stage standings, but they have also been handed an intriguing matchup against one of their nearest rivals, Wales. Robert Page's side emerged as a playoff winner to book a spot in the finals after beating Austria (in March) and then Ukraine (in June).
However, England’s recent run has been in terrible form. They are winless in their last six games in all competitions (D3 L3), their longest run since April-June 1993 (also six). Worryingly for Gareth Southgate, this is their longest ever winless run going into a major tournament.
This is while in the final round of Asian World Cup qualifiers, Iran conceded just four goals in 10 matches, so they’ll be difficult opponents to break down – not one that England will be looking forward to facing with their recent issues in attack.
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Roster
Meanwhile, Iran’s head coach Carlos Queiroz has chosen familiar faces for the country’s World Cup 2022 squad.
Among the roster shines Mehdi Taremi, who has continued to blaze across European tournaments with his club, Porto, next to other legionnaire forwards, Sardar Azmoun – who recovered from an injury in time – and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
The Portuguese coach has also included experienced players like goalkeeper Alireza Beyranvand and defender Shojae Khalilzadeh in the list.
However, there is no place for Al Wakrah midfielder Omid Ebrahimi, who suffered an injury in a friendly against Nicaragua just a few days before the tournament.
Here is the complete list of players chosen by Carlos Queiroz:
Goalkeepers:
Alireza Beyranvand (Persepolis)Amir Abedzadeh (Ponferradina)Payam Niazmand (Sepahan)Hossein Hosseini (Esteghlal)
Defenders:
Majid Hosseini (Kayserispor)Mohammad Hossein Kanaanizadegan (Al-Ahli)Shojae Khalilzadeh (Al-Ahli)Morteza Pouraliganji (Persepolis)Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb)Ramin Rezaeian (Sepahan)Milad Mohammadi (AEK Athens)Abolfazl Jalali (Esteghlal)
Midfielders:
Saeid Ezatollahi (Vejle Boldklub)Ehsan Hajsafi (AEK Athens)Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal)Ahmad Nourollahi (Shabab Al-Ahli)Ali Karimi (Kayserispor)Saman Ghoddos (Brentford)Vahid Amiri (Persepolis)
Forwards:
Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord)Ali Gholizadeh (Sporting Charleroi)Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto)Mehdi Torabi (Persepolis)Karim Ansarifard (Omonia Nicosia)Sardar Azmoun (Bayer Leverkusen)
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