ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Iran finalized a 26-man World Cup squad on Monday to play in the United States including 17 home-based players whose clubs have not played since February due to the Middle East regional war.
Star forward Mehdi Taremi, who plays in Greece for Olympiakos, was among nine overseas players but they did not include his strike partner at the 2022 World Cup, Sardar Azmoun.
Azmoun was dropped from coach Amir Ghalenoei’s squad in March, reportedly because of a social media post that angered Iranian authorities during the ongoing war with the United States and Israel. His teammate at Dubai club Shabab Al-Ahli, Saeid Ezatolahi, was picked.
Iran features five players with clubs in the United Arab Emirates, two in Belgium, Taremi in Greece and one in Russia. Belgium-based Dennis Dargahi on the official squad list is known as Dennis Eckert Ayensa at his club Standard Liege.
Iran is preparing for the World Cup at a training camp in Antalya, Turkey, before a scheduled departure on Friday to its tournament base in Tijuana, Mexico.
Citing complexities with visa issues to enter the U.S., Iran got FIFA approval 10 days ago to move from a planned training base in Tucson, Arizona.
Iran plays two games in World Cup Group G in Inglewood, California — against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium six days later — then goes to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26.
Iran and the U.S. could meet in the round of 32 on July 3 at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas, if both place second in their groups.
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Iran:
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor), Hossein Hosseini (Sepahan), Payam Niazmand (Persepolis)
Defenders: Danial Eiri (Malavan), Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan), Saleh Hardani (Esteghlal), Hossein Kanaani (Persepolis), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Tractor), Milad Mohammadi (Persepolis), Ali Nemati (Foolad), Ramin Rezaeian (Foolad)
Midfielders: Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Saeid Ezatolahi (Shabab Al-Ahli), Mehdi Ghayedi (Al-Nasr), Saman Ghoddos (Kalba), Mohammad Ghorbani (Al-Wahda), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Dender), Mohammad Mohebi (Rostov), Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia (Esteghlal), Mehdi Torabi (Tractor), Aria Yousefi (Sepahan)
Forwards: Ali Alipour (Persepolis), Dennis Dargahi (Standard Liege), Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (Tractor), Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos), Shahriar Moghanlou (Kalba)
___ AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
