Iran names provisional squad for AFC Futsal Asian Cup
Iran head coach Vahid Shamsaei has unveiled the defending champion’s provisional 25-man squad for the upcoming AFC Futsal Asian Cup, which kicks off on January 27 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The list will be trimmed to 14 players for the tournament.
The Asian powerhouse will begin its quest for a record-extending 14th title against Malaysia in Group D – also featuring Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan – on the second day of the competition.
Shamsaei’s men will face Saudi Arabia on January 30 before concluding the group stage against Afghanistan two days later at the Jakarta International Velodrome. The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals.
AFC Futsal Player of the Year Salar Aqapour will be joined by Moslem Oladqobad and Saeid Ahmadabbasi – the winners of the prestigious award in the past two editions – as well as prolific pivot and captain Hossein Tayyebi in headlining the Iranian squad in Jakarta. The quartet recently led Iran to a gold-medal campaign at the Islamic Solidarity Games in November, capped by a commanding 5-0 victory over Morocco in the final.
Iran has long been the dominant force at Asia’s flagship futsal event, suffering just four defeats in 105 matches across the previous 17 editions. Two of those losses came in finals against Japan – the only nation other than Iran to have lifted the Asian crown – and Shamsaei’s side will again be the outright favorite to lift the trophy at the Indonesia Arena on February 7.
Afghanistan will be among the teams to watch in Jakarta following an impressive 2024 debut, in which Iranian coach Majid Mortezaei’s side finished fifth to secure a first-ever World Cup berth in Uzbekistan later that year.
Iran and Afghanistan will meet at a major tournament for the third time in less than two years. Iran claimed a hard-fought 3-1 victory when the sides met at last year’s Asian Cup but was held to a 2-2 draw at the Islamic Solidarity Games.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, exited at the group stage in the previous edition but showed signs of progress at the Islamic Solidarity Games on home soil, pushing African champion Morocco in the semifinals before falling 6-3 after extra time.
The following is the Iranian provisional squad for the Asian Cup:
Goalkeepers: Saeid Momeni, Baqer Mohammadi, Mahdi Rostamiha, Behzad Rasouli, Mohammad-Mahdi Esmaeilpour
Sweepers: Mohammad-Hossein Derakhshani, Amirhossein Gholami, Hossein Sabzi, Sooran Balkaneh, Mahdi Asadshir
Right wingers: Masoud Yousef, Mahdi Karimi, Moslem Oladqobad, Sajjad Yousefkhah, Amirhossein Dehqani
Left wingers: Salar Aqapour, Ali Khalilvand, Ali Akrami, Mahdi Mahdikhani, Mohammad-Hossein Bazyar
Pivots: Hossein Tayyebi, Saeid Ahmadabbasi, Amirhossein Abtahi, Behrouz Azimi, Amir-Hamzeh Sadiqzadeh.