Our World Cup Fantasy team previews continue with a look at Iran, who are part of the group containing England and Wales.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, taking a stab at predicted line-ups, reviewing the road to Qatar and more.
To do this, we’ll be calling on the help of correspondents from each nation.
Here, Fantasy Football Scout user Babak Khorasani (Sir_Bobby_4) helps us profile Luis Enrique’s La Roja.
All prices given are from the official FIFA World Cup Fantasy game.
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
The summer months have been tumultuous. with indecision over whether to keep Dragan Skocic as the coach. Ultimately, the football federation chose to put faith in Carlos Queiroz for his third successive World Cup in charge.
Qualification was comfortable. The first group stage brought surprise defeats to Bahrain and Iraq but also 14-0 and 10-0 demolitions of Cambodia.
When things got serious in the final stage, a generally low-scoring Group A was nicely navigated by both themselves and South Korea.
As the top-ranked Asian side in the FIFA world rankings, an impressive friendly win over Uruguay will breed confidence for Iran’s short journey to Qatar.
| Team | Pts | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 18 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 4 | +30 |
| 2 | Iraq | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 4 | +10 |
| 3 | Bahrain | 15 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 4 | +11 |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 13 | -9 |
| 5 | Cambodia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 44 | -42 |
| Team | Pts | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 25 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 | +11 |
| 2 | South Korea | 23 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 12 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | Iraq | 9 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 12 | -6 |
| 5 | Syria | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -7 |
| 6 | Lebanon | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 13 | -8 |
- Most starts: Hossein Kanaanizadegan (17)
- Most goals: Sardar Azmoun (10), Mehdi Taremi (7), Karim Ansarifard (7)
- Most assists: Mehdi Taremi (5), Sardar Azmoun (4), Karim Ansarifard (4)
- Clean sheets: 12 from 18
RECORD SINCE QUALIFYING
| 12 June 2022 | Friendly | Iran | 1-2 | Algeria |
| 23 September 2022 | Friendly | Uruguay | 0-1 | Iran |
| 27 September 2022 | Friendly | Iran | 1-1 | Senegal |
| 10 November 2022 | Friendly | Iran | 1-0 | Nicaragua |
| 16 November 2022 | Unofficial friendly | Iran | 0-2 | Tunisia |
MOST RECENT INTERNATIONAL LINE-UPS
23/9/2022 – Iran 1-0 Uruguay (Taremi)
(4-3-3) Beiranvand; Moharrami, Khalilzadeh, Kanaanizadegan, Jalali; Ghoddos, Ezatolahi, Hajsafi; Jahanbakhsh, Azmoun, Torabi
27/09/2022 – Senegal 1-1 Iran (Azmoun)
(4-3-3) H Hosseini; Moharrami, M Hosseini, Kanaanizadegan, Hajsafi; Sarlak, Ezatolahi, Nourollahi; Gholizadeh, Ansarifard, Taremi
HOW FAR WILL THEY GET?
“I expect to finish in the round of 16. If you remember, Iran did not advance to the round of 16 in the 2018 World Cup only because of finishing one point behind Spain and Portugal. But now our players are more experienced than the previous World Cup and now they play in bigger teams.” – Babak Khorasani
STRENGTHS
“Our nation’s footballing strength is in defence. Opponents hardly score against us and I think captaining Kane for Matchday 1 is a bad idea!” – Babak Khorasani
WEAKNESSES
“Our weakness is attacking. Iran doesn’t have a good creative player and our main tactic is to play on the counter-attack.” – Babak Khorasani
THE KEY FANTASY TARGETS
“Taremi is the main star of Iran. He scored five goals in the Champions League this season and is in his best form.
“Beiranvand, our goalkeeper, does carry the possibility of a clean sheet and also should be good for save points.
“Hajsafi is Iran’s captain and left-back, though can play further forward. In the game against Senegal, he played very well and provided an assist.” – Babak Khorasani
PREDICTED LINE-UP
