Roster shape
The coaching staff confirmed a 26‑man squad on Monday, keeping nine overseas players and calling up 17 who feature domestically. The ir clubs have not played a competitive match since February, as the regional conflict has halted the domestic calendar.
Star forward Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos, Greece) heads the foreign contingent, and the squad also includes five players from United Arab Emirates clubs, two from Belgium and one from Russia.
That is usually how club statements work: the wording stays calm while the room clearly has not.
Sardar Azmoun, who started in Iran’s attack at the 2022 World Cup, was omitted after being dropped in March over a social media post.
The re is a quiet irony in assembling a World Cup lineup while the home league has been frozen for months.
Training camp logistics
The team is training in Antalya, Turkey, and is scheduled to leave on Friday for its tournament base in Tijuana, Mexico.
FIFA granted approval ten days ago to shift the pre‑World Cup training site from Tucson, Arizona, because of visa complications.
Group G fixture plan
Iran opens Group G on June 15 against New Zealand in Inglewood, California, the n faces Belgium six days later at the same venue. The team will travel to Seattle to play Egypt on June 26.
If both Iran and the United States finish second in the ir respective groups, the two nations could meet in the round of 32 on July 3 at AT&T; Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
A possible knockout with the host adds a geopolitical layer to the group outcome.
Squad by position
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; listed as Dennis Eckert Ayensa), Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (Tractor), Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos), Shahriar Moghanlou (Kalba).