Most people would advise keeping politics outside of sports and vice versa. However, with only a few weeks until the commencement of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, in which the 20th-ranked squad in the FIFA World Rankings will play England, Wales, and the USA in Group B, it is impossible for the Iranian men’s football national team to avoid blending both together among the mayhem on Tehran’s streets.
Mahsa Amini, 22, passed away in detention over the past month as a result of the repression instituted by the moral police of Iran, dubbed the Islamic Religious Police. She had been taken into custody for reportedly wearing the required headscarf too loosely.
Azmoun Was Loud in Supporting Protests and Willing to Give Up Playing in the World Cup
Sardar Azmoun of Bayer Leverkusen and Mehdi Taremi of Porto both responded by blacking out their Instagram profile pictures prior to the team’s last exhibition match against Senegal (while the Iranian National Anthem was playing, the players were all wearing black jackets that concealed their national team’s emblems) in September in Austria. The former shared a since-deleted Instagram message with his 5 million followers saying, “I’m no longer able to tolerate silence.” The exclusion from the team’s trip to Doha, he continued, would be “a small price to pay for even a single strand of Iranian women’s hair.” While ‘Team Melli’ drew 1-1 in an empty stadium in Vienna, the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) attempted to calm the political unrest at home by forbidding spectators from watching the team.
Additionally, there were rumors that the FFIRI had attempted to organize an exhibition match versus Russia in November. Owing to the Ukraine War, which now has placed Iran and Russia partners in an economically isolated position, both nations are already tightly allied diplomatically.
FIFA Received Requests for Iran’s Expulsion from the Event in Qatar
Furthermore, FIFA was urged to disqualify Iran from the World Cup in late September by the Open Stadiums group due to their patchy support for women’s rights. Recent pressure from international football governing organizations resulted in Iranian women being finally permitted to witness their national team compete for the first time as of 1979.
Although FIFA has not yet answered back to Open Stadium’s request, the world’s top football organization previously barred Russia from the forthcoming World Cup due to “irreparable and chaotic” damage that could jeopardize the event in Qatar as long-standing diplomatic tensions between Russia and NATO nations persist.
The World Cup begins on November 20, therefore Iran should not worry about its spot in Doha, which is situated right throughout the Persian Gulf. The FFIRI should be more concerned with its players’ behavior in Qatar because the most viewed athletic event in the world will give them a stage to possibly discuss the political unrest there.
Is Iran Really an Underdog in Its World Cup Group?
The AFC team was considered an underdog entering the competition but is actually just one spot below Wales, who are presently rated 19th in the world, by FIFA. England and the USA will have to be cautious when playing ‘Team Melli’.
After months of rumors, Carlos Queiroz re-joined the post of the coaching staff head of a team he has had great success with after leading them to their third straight World Cup, a first for the nation after Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018. Iran put on their greatest World Cup performance in Russia under the former Manchester United No. 2, defeating Morocco and matching Portugal before falling to Spain to earn four points and narrowly exiting the tournament without making it to the 2018 elimination rounds.
Dragan Skočić was replaced in September by the former coach of Portugal and Real Madrid, leaving him slightly more than two months to choose the 26-man team that would go to Doha before the deadline of November 13. Queiroz managed 100 games for the Iranian national team, recording 60 victories, 27 draws, and 13 losses.
A Few Rising Stars Plus Proven Strength from Russia 2018 Are What Queiroz Relies On
With the exception of seven new players, 16 out of the 23 members of the most recent squad that played Senegal—including Omid Ebrahimi, 35—traveled to Russia approximately four years ago. The defensive midfielder, who has performed for Qatari club Al Wakrah since 2021, was a factor in Queiroz’s lineup in 2018, but he has not played much for his nation in the past three years. His most recent show for Iran was in November 2019. Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who presently plays for Persepolis in Iran following stints in Europe with Boavista in Portugal and Royal Antwerp in Belgium, is a key member of the Iranian team in addition to Azmoun and Taremi.
Hull City’s promising 21-year-old Allahyar Sayyadmanesh will undoubtedly be positioned behind the productive Taremi in Queiroz’s preferred 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formations with a sole striker up top backed by wingers. The forward was most recently selected by The Guardian as one of the top 60 young football players in the world.
Currently ranking third and seventh, respectively, among Iran’s all-time leading goal scorers (retired striker Ali Daei, who played for Bayern Munich, among others, is at the top with 109 goals in 149 games between 1993 and 2006), Azmoun and Taremi will look to improve their individual goal totals.
The team’s captain, Ehsan Hajsafi, will play in his third World Cup since becoming chosen to represent Iran in 2008. The AEK Athens left-back has 121 international appearances under his belt, 30 fewer than the record-holder Javad Nekounam (151 appearances), who is currently retired.
Saman Ghoddos of Brentford is the only Iranian currently playing in the English Premier League after winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh transferred from Brighton to Feyenoord last year. In their opening match against England, both are anticipated to get the start for their nation.
Iran Poses as the Most Prominent Asian Side in Qatar
Iran is the highest-ranked Asian squad in Qatar, and despite the low expectations for the Islamic Republic, it has previously participated in the World Cup five times (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018). As they compete to win the most AFC Asian Cups, along with Japan, the team has a strong rivalry with South Korea. After the Copa América, the AFC Asian Cup, in which Iran has three championships, is the second-oldest continental football event in the globe.
Iran’s path to the 2022 World Cup qualification process went rather straightforward because it won Group A after being paired with Iraq, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Bahrain.
Following taking over as Marc Wilmots’ full-time replacement, Skočić led the Iranians to the World Cup finals and won 15 of his 18 matches in charge of the Middle Eastern country. Wilmots had put the team in grave danger of missing out on qualifying after draws and losses against Bahrain and Iraq. After defeating Iraq 1-0 at home in the approximately 79,000-seater Azadi Stadium in January, Iran became the 13fth team to earn a spot in Qatar.
Twenty-four years after what was previously referred to as a “politically charged game in World Cup history”, ‘Team Melli’ will play the US in Qatar. The political tensions are still pretty much alive between these two nations and the role of the favorite that the Iranian online casinos with sportsbook sections will determine on the encounter will have to be taken with caution. But first, they will face off with England on November 21 and Wales four days later.