Iran names provisional squad for Futsal World Cup
Head coach Vahid Shamsaei named Iran’s provisional 22-man squad ahead of the upcoming FIFA Futsal World Cup – starting September 14 in Uzbekistan.
The players will have to report for a first training session in Tehran today.
Stepping into the competition as the reigning Asian champion, Iran is pitted against Venezuela, Guatemala, and France in Group F.
Venezuela will be making only a second World Cup appearance after reaching the last 16 in Lithuania three years ago, while Guatemala – beaten by Iran in all six previous meetings – has failed to go beyond the group stage in five attempts.
France, meanwhile, will be a debutant in Uzbekistan courtesy of an elite-round group win in the European qualifiers.
Making a ninth World Cup appearance in the upcoming edition, Iran, whose best finish came in 2016 thanks to a shootout victory over Portugal in the third-place playoff, will begin its campaign against Venezuela on September 16.
Shamsaei’s men will face Guatemala on September 19 before squaring off against the European opponent three days later.
The top two of the six groups will be joined by the four best third-placed finishers in the last-16 round.
The following is the Iranian 22-man World Cup squad:
Saeid Mo’meni, Sajjad Babaei, Behzad Rasouli (goalkeepers), Mohammadreza Sangsefidi, Mohammad Shajari, Mahdi Asadshir, Alireza Rafieipour, Mohammad-Hossein Derakhshani, Ali-Asghar Hassanzadeh, Salar Aqapour, Ali Akrami, Amirhossein Davoudi, Mohammad-Hossein Bazyar, Mahdi Karimi, Moslem Oladqobad, Masoud Yousef, Sajjad Yousefkhah, Hamzeh Kadkhoda, Hossein Tayyebi, Saeid Ahmad-Abbasi, Behrouz Azimi, Amirhossein Abtahi.
Eight players will be omitted for the visit to the Central Asian country.