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Iran has announced its full 26-player squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It’s the seventh time the country has qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Iran has never advanced past the group stage at a FIFA World Cup, managing just three victories across their previous eighteen tournament matches.
Head coach and former player Amir Ghalenoei announced the full squad earlier today. The captain and one of the most experienced names in the squad is the winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh. The 32-year-old Dender player scored 17 goals in 98 matches for the Iranians. Another key player is Ehsan Hajsafi, who is just four matches away from equaling the retired Javad Nekounam’s record of 149 appearances as Iran’s all-time caps leader. Other important players in the squad are goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor), Milad Mohammadi (Persepolis), Saeid Ezatolahi (Shahab Al-Ahli), and striker Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos).
Full Squad Iran For The 2026 FIFA World Cup
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 Omid Noorafkan (Foolad), Ramin Rezaeian (Foolad)
Midfielders: Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Saeid Ezatolahi (Shabab Al-Ahli), Mehdi Ghaedi (Al-Nassr), 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), Shahriyar Moghanlou (Kalba), Mehdi Taremi (Olympiacos)
Qualification For The 2026 FIFA World Cup
Iran started its 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in a group with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Hong Kong. The two group leaders would proceed to the third qualifying stage. After six games, Iran easily won and qualified for the next stage as group winners. They beat Turkmenistan and Hong Kong both twice and drew twice against Uzbekistan. In the third round, Iran was again drawn against Uzbekistan. Also, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, and North Korea were part of the group. The winner and runner-up were guaranteed a ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Iran kicked off their campaign with two narrow victories before playing out a stalemate against Uzbekistan for their third consecutive draw with them. After the draw, Iran put together four consecutive wins, putting them in first place in the group. On March 25, 2025, Uzbekistan traveled to face Iran, with Team Melli knowing that a draw would be enough to secure their ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For the fourth time during the qualification cycle, the two teams shared the points in a 2-2 draw. Iran qualified for the World Cup with still two games to play. Although Iran suffered a defeat in their final away match against Qatar, they closed out their qualifying campaign with a home victory over North Korea. This ensured they finished at the top of the group, two points clear of runners-up Uzbekistan.
2026 FIFA World Cup
Iran is one of the teams in Group G. Team Melli starts the 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign on June 15 in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand. Six days later, they will take on New Zealand in the same stadium. Iran’s final group stage match will be on June 26 in Seattle, Washington, where they will face Egypt. The two group winners and the eight best third-placed teams from each group will advance to the next stage.
Iran Schedule
- June 15 – New Zealand (9 pm EST)
- June 21 – Belgium (3 pm EST)
- June 26 – Egypt (11 pm EST)
Marcel Dorff Marcel Dorff covers Mixed Martial Arts & Soccer for Heavy.com. He has covered MMA on a professional level since 2022. More about Marcel Dorff