Veteran striker Azmoun omitted as Iran announces World Cup squad

Azmoun faced intense criticism in the Iranian media in March after posting a photo on his Instagram account of himself alongside the premier of the United Arab Emirates, a US ally and supporter of Washington in its war against Iran.

Some Iranian state media outlets at the time called it a “betrayal,” given that Azmoun plays and lives in Dubai.

The 31-year-old forward, who previously played for Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma and has scored 57 goals in 91 international appearances, had already drawn criticism in 2022 for his support of protesters during the widespread demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 2026 World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Iran is scheduled to play its first match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles. However, according to the Iranian ambassador to Mexico, the national team players have not yet received visas to travel to the United States.

The Iranians have relocated their training camp, initially planned to be in Tucson in the US state of Arizona, to the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana.

Iran squad:

Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand, Payam Niazmand, Hossein Hosseini.

Defenders: Ehsan Hajsafi, Milad Mohammadi, Ali Nemati, Shojae Khalilzadeh, Hossein Kanaanizadegan, Danial Eiri, Ramin Rezaeian, Saleh Hardani.

Midfielders: Saman Ghoddos (Kalba/UAE), Saeid Ezatolahi (Shahab al-Ahli/UAE), Mohammad Ghorbani (al-Wahda/UAE), Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Amirmohammad Razzaghinia, Mohammad Mohebi (Rostov/RUS), Mehdi Torabi, Mehdi Ghayedi (Al-Nasr/UAE), Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Aria Yousefi.

Forwards: Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos/GRE), Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Ali Alipour, Shahriyar Moghanlou (Kalba/UAE), Dennis Eckert (known in Iran as Dennis Dargahi, Standard Liege/BEL).