Nobody’s calling this the Group of Death. Maybe they should – it’s the only one in which all four teams are ranked inside FIFA’s Top 20.
Here is everything to know about Iran:
Three Things You Need To Know About Iran
Coach: Carlos Queiroz
Highest finish: Group stage (1930)
2018 finish: Group stage
FOX Bet odds: +75000
Key players: Sardar Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Taremi
What we’re excited to watch: The group finale. Not only is it a rematch of the 1998 meeting between the longtime political adversaries (a game Team Melli won), it could determine which nation advances to the second round.
What success look like: The answer is obvious for a team that hasn’t survived the group stage in five previous tries.
Achilles' heel: Themselves. Iran has a long history of imploding at the World Cup, which is part of the reason this soccer-loving nation filled with natural talent has never made it past the first round.
X-Factor: Queiroz. Iran fired former coach Dragan Skocic just four months before Qatar 2022 and replaced him with the Portuguese manager, who previously led Team Melli from 2011-19. It’s a risk; Queiroz bombed out of his last two national team jobs, with Egypt and Colombia.
Group B Preview: USMNT, Iran, England, and Wales
Full roster
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand, Amir Abedzadeh, Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand
Defenders: Ehsan Hajsafi, Morteza Pouraliganji, Ramin Rezaeian, Milad Mohammadi, Hossein Kanani, Shojae Khalilzadeh, Sadegh Moharrami, Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Majid Hosseini, Abolfazl Jalali
Midfielders: Ahmad Noorollahi, Saman Ghoddos, Vahid Amiri, Saeid Ezatolahi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Torabi, Ali Gholizadeh, Ali Karimi
Forwards: Karim Ansarifard, Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi
Read more on the World Cup:
- Group B Team Guides: England | United States | Wales
- USMNT World Cup roster: Get to know all 26 players
- Alexi Lalas reacts to USMNT roster reveal
- 101 most memorable World Cup moments
- 50 reasons to be excited for the World Cup
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
