{"id":141000,"date":"2026-06-01T20:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/141000\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T20:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:03:31","slug":"iran-finalizes-world-cup-squad-with-17-home-based-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/141000\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran finalizes World Cup squad with 17 home-based players"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stories\/teammellifootball\/3909890396980092206\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Iran finalized<\/a> a 26-man <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">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 <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/iran\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Middle East regional war<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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, <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/soccer-iran-sardar-azmoun-2eb4c991e6fb4ffc186de1ae552a0a6e\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sardar Azmoun<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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 <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/iran\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">war<\/a> with the United States and Israel. His teammate at Dubai club Shabab Al-Ahli, Saeid Ezatolahi, was picked.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-4d0000\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Iran's Mehdi Taremi, right, shoots the ball next to Gambia's Mouhamadou Drammeh during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780344210_674_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Mehdi Taremi, right, shoots the ball next to Gambia\u2019s Mouhamadou Drammeh during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Mehdi Taremi, right, shoots the ball next to Gambia\u2019s Mouhamadou Drammeh during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p>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<p>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<p>Citing complexities with visa issues to enter the U.S., <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-world-cup-mexico-d787422e4f946a25a2a25f45a87b21e8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iran got FIFA approval<\/a> 10 days ago to move from a planned training base in Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>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<p>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><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Iran's Ramin Rezaeian, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's second goal during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780344210_520_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    Iran&#8217;s Ramin Rezaeian, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side&#8217;s second goal during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)\n                <\/p>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s Ramin Rezaeian, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side&#8217;s second goal during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Iran's Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh plays the ball during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)\"  fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"599\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780344211_135_.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    Iran&#8217;s Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh plays the ball during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)\n                <\/p>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh plays the ball during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Gambia, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra)<\/p>\n<p>                Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n<p>        Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n<p>            Share<\/p>\n<p>                            Read More<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Iran:<\/p>\n<p>Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor), Hossein Hosseini (Sepahan), Payam Niazmand (Persepolis)<\/p>\n<p>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<p>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<p>Forwards: Ali Alipour (Persepolis), Dennis Dargahi (Standard Liege), Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (Tractor), Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos), Shahriar Moghanlou (Kalba)<\/p>\n<p>___ <br \/>AP World Cup: <a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                                    <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 Iran finalized a 26-man World Cup squad on Monday to play in the United&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[46216,46212,46206,46208,1216,2981,46207,46211,2978,34,12872,196,2980,46215,46210,2979,49,46205,46209,8816,46214,46213,21648,2576,549,6560,29023],"class_list":["post-141000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-ali-alipour","tag-ali-nemati","tag-amir-ghalenoei","tag-amir-mohammad-razzaghinia","tag-belgium","tag-central-america","tag-dennis-dargahi","tag-dennis-eckert-ayensa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-iran","tag-iran-national-soccer-team","tag-iran-war","tag-latin-america","tag-mehdi-taremi-ghayedi","tag-mehdi-taremi-torabi","tag-mexico","tag-middle-east","tag-mohammad-ghorbani","tag-mohammad-mohebi","tag-new-zealand","tag-saleh-hardani","tag-saman-ghoddos","tag-sardar-azmoun","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sports-middle-east","tag-united-states-national-soccer-team"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116676644867428532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}