Officially… Iran has decided its position to participate in the 2026 World Cup

In a move that ended the controversy and ambiguity surrounding Iran’s readiness to participate in the 2026 World Cup, Iran coach Amir Kalanui released the preliminary list that will take part in the World Cup, Iran’s fourth consecutive appearance on the world stage.

The 30 players on the roster are expected to travel to Turkey next week for a final training camp to prepare for the tournament hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

On May 29, the Iranian national team will hold a friendly match with the Gambian national team at its camp in Antalya, Turkey, after which it will travel to the American state of Arizona to complete the final preparations before the start of the tournament.

The roster has witnessed a large group of people with international experience, led by striker Mehdi Taremi, who is considered one of the most popular and experienced stars of the Iran national team, as he ranks among the players who have played more than 50 international matches for their country’s national team.

On the other hand, the absence of veteran star Sardar Azmoun raised many questions, especially since he is considered the third best scorer in the history of the Iranian national team. In addition to the young midfielder Mohammad Javad Hossein Nejad, the name of winger Allahyar Sayadmanesh, who is a professional in Belgium, was also missing from the list.

Kalnaui confirmed that the selection of the final list was one of the most difficult technical decisions he had faced in his coaching career, noting that the comparison of names was very difficult due to the technical level of the large number of players.

In a statement given to the official website of the Iranian Football Federation, the Iranian coach said: “Selecting 30 players for this last camp before the World Cup was the most difficult technical decision I have made in my coaching career.”

The preliminary list of the Iranian team was as follows.

GatekeepingAli Reza Beiranvand, Seyyed Hossein Hosseini, Muhammad Khalifa, Payam Niazmand.

ProtectionDaniel Airy, Ehsan Haj Safi, Saleh Hardani, Hossein Kanaani, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Milad Mohammadi, Ali Nemati, Omid Nourafkan, Ramin Rezaian.

Average:Roozbe Jashmi, Saeed Ezzatullah, Mehdi Qaidin, Saman Qaddus, Mohammad Ghorbani, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebi, Amir Mohammad Razzaq, Mehdi Torabi, Aria Yousef.

AttackAli Alipour, Denis Darkahi, Hadi Habibnejad, Amir Hossein Zadeh, Amir Hossein Mahmoudi, Kasri Taheri, Mehdi Taremi.

Iran’s national team is scheduled to open its 2026 World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, and will face Belgium and Egypt in Group Seven.