The complete schedule of friendly matches Iran national soccer team is set to play while preparing for the Russia World Cup June 14-July 15 has been announced.
Team Melli is placed in Group B (the toughest among eight groups) with the 2016 World Cup winner Spain, UEFA Euro 2016 winner Portugal and 2017 African Nations Championship winner Morocco.
After the draw was done last December, some said it would be too difficult for Iran to qualify from the group. But Team Melli’s head coach Carlos Queiroz had a different opinion.
The Portuguese believed that it is a good opportunity for his men to play against strong opponents and saw it as a proper time to take the skill level of the team to a higher pedestal.
To prepare the team, Queiroz has planned a set of friendly matches with eight countries, from Europe, Africa and Asia, which have similarities with Iran’s rivals in the finals of the World Cup.
Turkey, Portugal, Greece and Lithuania are the European teams Iran will face in friendlies during the next three months. African confederation teams are Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. Team Melli will take on Syria and Uzbekistan from Asia to better prepare the players for the Russian event.
However, given Iran’s 33rd place in FIFA world ranking as released in January, all the selected nations (except one) for friendlies have a lower status compared to Team Melli.
Libya will be the first team to line up against Iran on March 17 at Azadi Stadium in Tehran. The African team currently sits on the 99th place of the ranking.
Tunisia will play host to Team Melli on March 23 at Olympic Stadium of Rades in Rades City. Ranked 23rd in the FIFA ranking, this African country is among the teams that will compete at the Russia World Cup.
Iran will meet Algeria on March 27 in Vienna, Austria. Currently sitting on the 60th place on the ranking table, Algeria in the past qualified for four World Cups -- in 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014.
Testing Domestic Players
By the end of the Persian Gulf Pro League games in late April, all players involved in the league games will freely join the national team training sessions. Queiroz has planned a match with Syria to test the mettle of the players of the domestic league teams. The Arab team is 75th in FIFA’s ranking.
Syria and Iran will line up against each other on May 11 in either Tehran or Doha, Qatar. The venue of this clash is not yet finalized.
The next contender is also Asian; Uzbekistan, 75th in ranking, will meet Iran a week after the game against the Syrians on May 18 in Tehran.
Turkey will be the first European rival for Team Melli on May 28. The Turkish Football Federation has agreed to host the game in Istanbul. The European playing style of the Turks should help Team Melli get familiar with the techniques of European contenders in the World Cup. Turkey has the 38th spot in FIFA ranking.
Turks displayed a remarkable performance in the 2004 World Cup. The team entered the semis but lost the match 0-1 to Brazil and after beating South Korea 3-2 ended up in third place.
With regards to the second European rival, Iran will meet Greece on June 2 again in Istanbul. Holding the 45th place in FIFA ranking, Greece failed to enter the 2018 World Cup but its players had the title of 2004 UEFA Euro finals. Greece defeated Portugal in the final to win the title.
Team Melli will hold its final friendly match in Russia against Lithuania on June 8, a week before its first match against Morocco in the series of World Cup finals. The city and the venue of the game have not been announced. This team from Europe is Iran’s easiest opponent in friendlies since it is on the 147th spot in the FIFA ranking.
Iran will play Morocco, Portugal and Spain respectively on June 15, 20 and 25.
Iran was the first Asian team to secure its place in the World Cup Russia. This is the fifth time Team Melli has reached the World Cup finals, but has never gone past the group stage. The Iranian squad seeks to qualify for the next round of the event for the first time.
The benefit of qualifying as early as Iran did is extra time to prepare and get things in order ahead of appearing on the biggest stage in world football.
Among Iran’s recent positive results are a 1-1 draw against Russia, win over Montenegro and Togo, as well as their most-recent back-to-back victories over Panama and Venezuela with the former also preparing for a maiden World Cup appearance.
