Iran's national team for the 2022 World Cup: Persians love a good fight

We begin the story of the teams in Group B at the World Cup in Qatar with the team of Iran.

Iran

Iran, which for centuries has been known as Persia, has a long history of statehood, one of the longest in the world: it goes back to the country of Elam, which was located in this region five thousand years ago. Now it is a large state in Western Asia with a population of more than 80 million people, with successes in science, high-precision industry and space.

In sports, Iran is primarily a wrestling country. But soccer is second only to it in popularity.

Iran's national soccer team

The Iranian national team played its first match in August 1941 and has been playing regularly in international tournaments since the 1960s. The Iranians are a constant figure in continental soccer, with eight Asian Cup medals to their credit, including three gold medals (1968, 1972, 1976). The Persians have won the Asian Summer Games four times (1974, 1990, 1998, 2002).

The Iranians first entered the World Cup in 1978 and have participated in it five times since, but have never made it out of the group. Nevertheless, the Iranian national team has its own memorable pages from the history of the World Cups. In 1998, it defeated the Americans 2-1, which was especially welcomed by fans because of the tense relations between the two countries. In 2014, the Persians almost created a sensation in a match with Argentina: only in the 91st minute, Lionel Messi's goal brought the victory to the Albiceleste - 1-0.

In 2018 in Russia, the Iranian national team was closer than ever to the playoffs: in the first match it beat Morocco - 1-0 after an auto-goal in the 95th minute. The Iranians were handled with dignity by Spain - 0-1, and in the end Iran snatched a draw from Portugal - 1:1. As a result, the Iranian team finished with four points, while the Spanish and Portuguese had five points each.

Iranian national team stars

The Iranian team also has its own legends, such as Javad Nekounam and Ali Daei, who both played in exactly 300 matches wearing the Iranian national coat of arms. Daei, with 109 goals, has also long been the leader in the number of goals for the national team in the world - now Cristiano Ronaldo occupies the first line. Fans know Ali Karimi, who played for Bayern, and Hamburg star Mehdi Mahdavikia. Former Zenit striker Serdar Azmoun has 65 caps and 41 goals for Iran.

The vast majority of players in Iran's national team play in the domestic championship, but there are also players who are known in Europe. Azmoun now defends the colors of German Bayer, striker Mehdi Taremi - Portuguese Porto, midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh - Dutch Feyenord, defender and team captain Ehsan Hajsafi plays for Greek AEK.

Opponents in Group B

England, the United States and Wales.

Iran's performance

The Iranians will not give up easily and will wear out the nerves of each of their opponents. This is a team that doesn't weave lace and is primarily concerned about the state of its rear. Still, Iran's class is not great enough even to beat Wales. So most likely it will take fourth place in the group.