As Iran prepares for the FIFA World Cup in Russia, many claim that they are just there to make up the numbers as they will not progress past the group stages. However, one man is clearly convinced that this is not the case, Iran striker Sardar Azmoun in an interview said that Iran would progress to the round of 32. Azmoun’s statement will excite the thousands of Iranian supporters who will be rallying behind their team in Russia and for those sharing Azmoun’s views, you can bet on World Cup 2018 for Iran to progress past the group stages.

The road to World Cup

The World Cup in Russia will be the fifth time that Iran is one of the 32 teams vying for the biggest football trophy in the world. Iran first appeared at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where the team held their own against some of the best teams in the world. Iran’s opening first match was a draw with Nigeria, before losing the second and third match to Argentina (1-0) and Bosnia&Herzegovina (3-1) respectively. Carlos Queiroz's 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign was sweet. The team played a total of 18 matches on their road to qualification. The campaign started off on a high as they defeated Guam 6-0, before going on to record 12 successive clean sheets. They qualified to Russia with a game to spare against Syria after they beat Uzbekistan. 

Preparations

As part of preparations for the World Cup, the Iran national team will play four friendlies before they go to Russia to start their World Cup adventure. The first friendly will see Iran taking on Tunisia in Tunis on 23 March. The match will give Carlos Queiroz a taste of how well his team is before the World Cup Finals. Soon after the Tunisia friendly, Iran will fly to Qatar where they will take part in a four-team tournament. Iran will face Uruguay, Poland,and Qatar. Reports suggest that the Iran Football Association is still looking to secure one or two other friendlies before the start of the tournament and if they manage to do that, the match/s will be played either late in May or early June.

Key players

Iran strives not on the brilliance of individual players but as a collective unit that works for one another. Despite this, there are some notable names who can rise up to the stage if called upon and these include Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan), Karim Ansarifard (Olympiacos), Ashkan Dejagah the captain (Nottingham Forest), Saman Ghoddos (Ostersund), and Ehsan Hajsafi (Olympiacos). 

World Cup matches

Azmoun states that Iran will progress to the Round of 32 but if indeed the team is to do that, then they need to be at their absolute best as they are in a tough group with some good teams. Iran’s first match is against Morocco and Iran needs to win this match if it is to progress. The second match is against one time world champions Spain and the third match is against the reigning European champions, Portugal.

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