News / Sports

Iran team roster for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier announced

Sunday, 28 August 2016 2:07 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 August 2016 4:26 PM ]

Iranian soccer players train at the football field of the Research Institute of Iran’s Petroleum Industry, western Tehran, on August 27, 2016. (Mehr news agency)

The head coach of Iran's national football team has announced the names on the roster of the squad against Qatar at the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament.

On Saturday, Carlos Queiroz unveiled the names of selected footballers for Team Melli’s showdown against the Maroons at Azadi Stadium in western Tehran on Thursday.

Alireza Haghighi, Alireza Beiranvand and Mohammadreza Akhbari were picked as goalkeepers.

Morteza Pouraliganji, Seyyed Jalal Hosseini, Pejman Montazeri, Ramin Rezaeian, Vouria Ghafouri, Mohammad Ansari, Ramin Rezaeian, Ehsan Hajsafi and Saeid Aghaei will join the Iranian outfit as defenders.

Dariush Shojaeian, Mehdi Torabi, Omid Ebrahimi, Vahid Amiri, Andranik Teymourian, Ashkan Dejagah and Masoud Shojaei will be playing as midfielders.

Moreover, Karim Ansarifard and Mehdi Taremi have been selected to play as forwards during Team Melli’s upcoming match. Teymourian will don the captain’s armband.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is pitted against South Korea, Uzbekistan, China, Qatar and Syria in Group A of the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament.

Asian powerhouse Japan is drawn in Group B, and has joined Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Thailand.

The winner and runner-up of each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while the third-placed teams of each group (two teams in total) will head to the play-off round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The winner of the Asian play-off round will then face twice the fourth-placed squad in the fifth round of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) qualifying games.

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