Iran lines up domestic league players for friendly double header
Iran’s men’s national team head coach Amir Qalenoei has named a list of 18 Persian Gulf Premier League players for the two upcoming friendly games against Uzbekistan and Russia.
The domestic top-flight group will be joined by the overseas players before Team Melli’s meetings with the two familiar opponents of recent years.
Making its first appearance after the group-stage exit at June’s FIFA World Cup, Qalenoei’s side will take on Uzbekistan in Tashkent on Thursday, looking to beat the Central Asian foe for the first time since the 2023 CAFA Championship final.
The two sides shared the spoils in four 2026 World Cup qualification games, before Uzbekistan won 1-0 in extra time in the 2025 CAFA final and then emerged victorious in a shootout when they met in a friendly tournament in the United Arab Emirates last November.
Iran will then play Russia in Kazan on Sept. 29, which will mark a third friendly between the two sides since Qalenoei was appointed to the national team job for a second spell in March 2023.
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium days after Qalenoei’s appointment, before Russia won 2-1 at Volgograd Arena in October last year.
The Russian national team has been banned from all FIFA and UEFA competitions for the past four years after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
The upcoming match will be part of Iran’s preparations for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, which kicks off on January 7 in Saudi Arabia.
A semifinalist at the previous two editions, Iran will begin its bid for a fourth Asian Cup title – and its first since 1976 – against China in Group C, which also features Kyrgyzstan and Syria, at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena on January 9.
Center back Hossein Kananizadegan and midfielder Rouzbeh Cheshmi – the skippers of Tehran archrivals Persepolis and Esteghlal, respectively – are the two high-profile absentees from the latest list.
Kananizadegan is set to be sidelined for up to three weeks after suffering a knee problem during a training session with the club last week, while Cheshmi, who missed Iran’s three World Cup games with an injury, has only managed three starts for the Capital Blues in seven outings across all competitions this season.
Persepolis striker Ali Alipour, who made a cameo appearance in the 2-2 draw against New Zealand at the World Cup, has also been overlooked by Qalenoei despite an impressive run in the league, contributing three goals and three assists in six games.
Shams Azar winger Milad Sourgi and Persepolis defender Mohammad-Mahdi Zare, meanwhile, will fancy their chances of making their senior international debuts after receiving a call-up from Qalenoei, while veteran fullback Ehsan Hajsafi, who has 148 international caps under his belt, could overtake Javad Nekounam for the all-time most Team Melli appearances should he feature in both games.
The following is Iran’s 18-man roster for the September international break:
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Tractor), Payam Niazmand (Persepolis), Seyyed Hossein Hosseini (Sepahan)
Defenders: Mohammad Naderi (Tractor), Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Tractor), Mohammad-Mahdi Zare (Persepolis), Aref Aghasi (Esteghlal), Saman Fallah (Esteghlal), Saleh Hardani (Esteghlal), Aria Yousefi (Sepahan), Ramin Rezaeian (Foolad Khuzestan)
Midfielders: Aref Haji-Eidi (Sepahan), Omid Nourafkan (Sepahan)
Wingers: Mahdi Limouchi (Sepahan), Mohammad-Mahdi Mohebbi (Persepolis), Amirhossein Mahmoudi (Persepolis), Milad Sourgi (Shams Azar)