The Iranian Football Federation has announced that the match between Iran and Kyrgyzstan will be held at Foladshahr Stadium in Esfahan , which is equipped with VAR.

Iran’s national will face Kyrgyzstan in the third qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday, September 5th. This match was supposed to be held at Azadi Stadium, which was moved to Naghshe Jahan Stadium in Isfahan due to the renovation of Azadi. The match between Sepahan and Shabab Al-Ahli was held in Naghshe Jahan highlighted the disastrous status of the pitch and raised many objections specifically from Team Melli’s coach.

The Stadium Standardization Headquarters, subsequently declared that due to the damage to the grass of Naghshe Jahan Stadium, the stadium in Esfahan cannot host this World Cup qualifier match and an alternative venue has to be nominated. Dawood Rafati, head of stadium standardization headquarters, went to Isfahan today and visited Folad Shahr Stadium. After the investigations, it was announced that the memorandum of understanding will be signed by tonight and the national team will face Kyrgyzstan at Foulad Shahr Stadium. The Football Federation will send the next VAR machine after Arak to Isfahan so that this game will be played with the help of a Video-Assisted Referee.

 Fooladshar is the home stadium of Zob Ahan and was opened in 1998. The stadium is listed as having a capacity of 15,000. its remote location away from Esfahan city and small capacity is not ideal venue of a match of this level for Team Melli. FooladShahr is about 45 km from Esfahan city center.