Carlos Queiroz is back in charge of Team Melli ahead of the 2022 World Cup. How far can he take them?
Qualification Summary
AFC Second Round - Group C
- 1st place (18 points)
- 8 matches (6 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses)
- 34 scored, 4 conceded (+30 goal difference)
- 1st place (25 points)
- 10 matches (8 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss)
- 15 scored, 4 conceded (+11 goal difference)
Overall
- 18 matches (14 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses)
- 49 goals, 8 conceded (+41 goal difference)
- Sardar Azmoun (10)
- Mehdi Taremi (7)
- Karim Ansarifard (7)
Meet the Manager
The managerial position for Iran has been a bit of a chaos over the last several months. Longtime manager Carlos Queiroz, who led the team at the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, left in early 2019. He was replaced by legendary Belgian Marc Wilmots. However, Wilmots reign at the helm lasted only a few months, and just 6 games. After disappointing losses away to Bahrain and Iraq and disagreements on pay structure, Wilmots left Iran in the summer of 2019.
Croatian manager Dragan Skočić took over, and guided Iran through an incredible qualifying campaign. Iran won 15 of their first 16 games under Skočić, finishing Asian qualifiers with a remarkable +41 goal difference. However, after losing 2 of their next 3 matches, Skočić was fired in the summer of 2022, just four months before the start of the World Cup.
After the departure of Skočić, the Iranian FA once again turned towards Carlos Queiroz. The 69 year old Portuguese manager is well-respected by both the Iranian players and fan base, and brings incredible experience. He has managed nations including, but not limited to, Portugal, Colombia, Iran and Egypt. He had two stints as an assistant for the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, and spent a season in charge of Real Madrid in between them.
Queiroz took charge of Iran for 100 matches in his first stint from 2011-2019, winning 60 of them and posting a +121 goal difference. He guided Iran to back-to-back World Cup appearances for the first time in the nation's history, bringing the team to Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018. He expanded their player pool by recruiting dual-citizen Iranians living abroad, including German-Iranian Ashkan Dejagah, Swedish-Iranian Saman Ghoddos, Iranian-American Steven Beitashour, and Dutch-Iranian Reza Ghoochenejhad.
Upon rejoining Team Melli in September 2022, Queiroz announced Javad Nekounam as his assistant coach. Nekounam is Iran's all time caps leader, playing for them on 151 occasions. He was the captain for Queiroz's 2014 World Cup squad, and previously spent a year as Queiroz's assistant in 2016 before starting a managerial career of his own.
World Cup History
Iran comes to the 2022 World Cup making their third consecutive appearance on the big stage. It will be their 6th appearance in total, but they have managed just a pair of wins in their first five World Cups. They will be looking to escape from the group for the first time in the nation's history.
Key Players
Mehdi Taremi - forward, 30 - Porto (Portugal) - 60 caps, 28 goals
Sardar Azmoun - forward, 27 - Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) - 65 caps, 41 goals
Alireza Jahanbakhsh - winger, 29 - Feyenoord (Netherlands) - 64 caps, 13 goals
Saeid Ezatolahi - midfielder, 26 - Vejle (Denmark) - 47 caps, 1 goal
Sadegh Moharrami - right back, 26 - Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) - 21 caps, 0 goals
Saman Ghoddos - midfielder, 29 - Brentford (England) - 33 caps, 2 goals
Karim Ansarifard - forward, 32 - Omonia (Cyprus) - 94 caps, 29 goals
Alireza Beiranvand - goalkeeper, 30 - Persepolis (Iran) - 51 caps, 0 goals
Ehsan Hajisafi - midfielder/left back, 32 - AEK Athens (Greece) - 121 caps, 7 goals
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| Mehdi Taremi |
Carlos Queiroz will have his team organized at the back and difficult to play against. His sides will show lots of camaraderie and determination, finding ways to make the team play greater as a whole than the sum of its parts. They will sit deep and be tough to break down, looking to counter with their talented front line of Taremi, Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh. Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand had some heroic performances in Russia in 2018, and will likely be relied on to do the same in Qatar.
Queiroz has a knack for getting his teams to play well against teams that are more talented. In the 2014 World Cup it took a stoppage time winner from Lionel Messi for Argentina to defeat them 1-0. In 2018, they again narrowly lost 1-0 to a footballing giant; this time it was Spain. Team Melli then fought for a 1-1 draw with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal. In the September international window, Iran got good results against two teams ranked in the top 20 by FIFA, defeating Uruguay 1-0 and drawing 1-1 with Senegal.
GK: Alireza Beiranvand
RB: Sadegh Moharrami
CB: Majid Hosseini
CB: Shojae Khalilzadeh
LB: Milad Mohammadi
DM: Saeid Ezatolahi
MF: Ali Karimi
MF: Ali Gholizadeh
RW: Alireza Jahanbakhsh
LW: Mehdi Taremi
CF: Sardar Azmoun
World Cup Schedule
England - November 21, Al Rayyan
Wales - November 25, Al Rayyan
USA - November 29, Doha
