{"id":140645,"date":"2026-06-01T16:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/140645\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:09:16","slug":"iran-finalizes-world-cup-squad-with-17-home-based-players-and-no-azmoun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/140645\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran finalizes World Cup squad with 17 home-based players and no Azmoun"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANTALYA \u2013 Iran finalized<\/a> a 26-man World Cup<\/a> 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Azmoun was dropped from coach Amir Ghalenoei\u2019s squad in March, reportedly because of a social media post that angered Iranian authorities during the ongoing war<\/a> with the United States and Israel. His teammate at Dubai club Shabab Al-Ahli, Saeid Ezatolahi, was picked.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Citing complexities with visa issues to enter the U.S., Iran got FIFA approval<\/a> 10 days ago to move from a planned training base in Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n

Iran plays two games in World Cup Group G in Inglewood, California \u2014 against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium six days later \u2014 then goes to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26.<\/p>\n

Iran and the U.S. could meet in the round of 32 on July 3 at the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 stadium in Arlington, Texas, if both place second in their groups.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Iran:<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor), Hossein Hosseini (Sepahan), Payam Niazmand (Persepolis)<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

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)<\/p>\n

Forwards: Ali Alipour (Persepolis), Dennis Dargahi (Standard Liege), Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (Tractor), Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos), Shahriar Moghanlou (Kalba)<\/p>\n

___ AP World Cup: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n