Iran World Cup 2026 squad: Amir Ghalenoei's final 26-man selection (original) (raw)

Iran World Cup 2026 squad: Players of Iran pose for a team photo prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier match between Qatar and IR Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on June 05, 2025 in Doha, Qatar.

Iran (Image credit: Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)

The Iran World Cup 2026 squad will be the fourth in a row to represent the nation at the finals.

They've failed to make it past the group stage in any of their previous appearances and will be hoping they can change that at World Cup 2026 despite having one of the more inexperienced squads in the tournament.

Belgium will be the Group G favourites and Iran will need a result against Egypt or New Zealand to achieve their best-ever World Cup performance.

Iran's participation has been in doubt ever since they qualified. The outbreak of war, the devastating human impact and the fact that one of the World Cup host nations is bombing their cities and openly aggressive to the idea of their presence at the tournament puts the whole tournament into perspective.

Their last four matches were against World Cup debutants Cape Verde and Uzbekistan, and Nigeria and Gambia, who failed to qualify. Having beaten only the last of those, Iran's prospects in the summer would appear meagre.

Much of their squad plays their football in the Middle East, with a few players playing in Europe, notably captain Mehdi Taremi. He now plays for Olympiacos and is Iran's third all-time top scorer with 56 goals.

Ali Daei is their all-time top goalscorer, with 108 goals in 148 games, and he is also the third highest scorer in international football history behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

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Squad

Iran World Cup 2026 squad: The final selection

Fixtures

Recent Results

Group G standings

Iran are in Group G at World Cup 2026.

Manager

Who is Iran's manager?

Amir Ghalenoei is in his second stint in charge of the Iranian national football team.

His first spell saw him in the dugout for 17 games between 2007 and 2008, of which he only lost one. His second has seen him lose only a handful of games, though Iran's more recent fortunes have been affected by more serious matters..

Italian analyst and coach Antonio Gagliardi, who has been part of Italy and Juventus’ backroom staff, has been added to the staff with the expectation he will take over after the World Cup.

Star player

Who is Iran's star player?

Mehdi Taremi

Mehdi Taremi playing for Iran (Image credit: Getty)

Mehdi Taremi now plays for Olympiacos having moved to Greece last summer in search of regular minutes ahead of the World Cup.

In 39 appearances for his club he has scored 16 goals, firing in 10 goals in 24 league games and netting in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

If Iran want to get out of the group stage for the first time ever, they will need him at his best.

Best XI

Chris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Coventry Sphinx.