Tag: Iran

10/03/201510/03/2015

What is behind the Chile game cancelation talk?

The Iranian football federation financial difficulties and failure to cover the activities of the national teams are old news. Under Kaffashian administration, the FFIRI has suffered chronic financial hardship, lack of resources and failure to create a proper marketing and sponsorship strategy to generate revenue for his federation.

The initial plan to play Sweden was a God send for the FFIRI as the Swedes have taken care of almost all the cost including transportation and accommodation for the Iranian squad and delegation. All that Iran needs to do is to turn up for the match.

A match agent who has a close working relationship with FIFA and Carlos Queiroz wisely proposed an extra match against Chile utilizing the South American’s team presence in Europe for a match against Brazil at the Emirates Stadium in London. Initially the date was agreed and Chile was to play against Iran in Sweden a few days before the Sweden match. As there was some fear by the Swedes that the proposed match with Chile and particularly the result might over shadow the main attraction, the Sweden-Iran match, they objected to the match venue being played in Sweden.

The agent then suggested Austria and presented another verbal proposal which would cost the FFIRI nothing while the agent would retain the match ticket sales income and TV broadcast rights. This proposal was agreed by the FFIRI verbally and a contract was to be sent for approval and signature.

On the presentation of the formal contract, there was a clause about a payment of 75,000 Euros outstanding from the previous camp in Austria that the FFIRI has to settle. On being alerted to the clause, Ali Kaffashian had a change of heart as he is reluctant to pay (!) , hence his quote that the Chile match is not confirmed yet.

The federation has no choice but to pay the bill outstanding for a long time. Unless this bill is settled, there would be no match against Chile in Austria anytime soon.

It is amazing how a football federation that cannot pay a 75,000 Euro bill has the audacity to file to host the most prestigious Asian football tournament and expect to win against the UAE !

26/02/2015

Dorna Montzemian, Swedish-Iranian Team Melli fan.

Sweden is a country that has been a favorite for immigrant Iranians. Despite the unforgivable weather and the cold climate, many Iranians have settled well in Sweden a country that has given refuge to thousands of people around the world and given them the opportunity to prosper and live a respectable life. Many Iranians excelled and integrated well in the society forming a highly honorable and respectable community.

The Iranians are the biggest minorities in Sweden with a number approaching 64,000. Many have been born in Sweden either from Iranian parentage or by intermixed marriages. Amongst this population, a community of football fans has established itself which despite the distance from the homeland, have created a sizable and strong support for Team Melli. Many fans from Sweden travelled to watch Team Melli in France and Germany for the world cups.

The match against Sweden is the first real opportunity for Team Melli fans in Sweden to show their strength and resolve. Although the match might not be a sellout, the indications are that it will be near capacity. The Iranian football fans and Team Melli supporters in particular, are world renowned for their passion and vociferous support wherever the match is played. Sweden is a dream land for Team Melli fans.

Sweden Men’s National Football Team will meet Iran in the Friendly Arena on 31 March. To put the supporters in the mood and emphasize the importance of support from the stands, the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) implemented facebook contest Hemmaplan! where the winners get involved on an alternative match poster with fans of both teams and of course also win tickets to match.

The weeks leading up to the match, The SvFF published interviews with the winners. First off is Dorna Montzemian.

INTERVIEW

What is your name?

– Dorna Montazemian.

How old are you?

– 28 years

Which team is your team?

– Wow, teasers, already? Hahahaha!

Very easy question to answer. It is actually Sweden when the Swedish national team is playing, it is very close to my heart, but obviously the heart beats slightly stronger for the Iranian national team, Team Melli, representing my country Iran!

What is your first football memory?

– I have many fond memories to share, but by far the biggest and among the first most memorable football memories I have are from the 1998 World Cup, when Iran made it to the World Cup for the second time and most important was the match that Iran had to play against the United States.

What a game that was, still, when I think back to that day’s emotions, I still can feel how the Iranian people in Iran and around the world celebrated the 2-1 victory over the United States. First goal was scored by Hamid Estili, which he headed the ball straight into the net, and then Mehdi Mahdavikia secured the win with the second goal in 84th minutes. All of a sudden it became 2-1 and everything stood still in the final minutes of the match remaining. Then the referee blows the final whistle, BÄÄÄÄM, Iran registers its first and historic win ever in a World Cup contest! Unforgettable!

What is your best memory as a supporter?

– First and foremost, this experience that is assigned to me. Then my expectations and wait for the absolute best memory which will be created on March 31 at the Friends Arena, where both parts of my heart will face each other! It will be absolutely legendary!

What does being a supporter means for you?

– To be loyal to the team you follow and to watch football as a sport filled with passion, a sport with huge driving forces which will create strength and courage together , like creating superstars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

What is so special in the game between Sweden and Iran?

– Experiencing Iran’s first football match against Sweden in Sweden, is a great and historical moment! The last time Iran played against a Scandinavian team was against Denmark back in 1999.

On March 31, I along with several thousand people will attend a festivity that is very special and highly appreciated. The ability to go to the match and enjoy the 90+ minute live play and experience the wonderful atmosphere of a soccer stadium, it’s something to look forward to and cherish!

What is the feeling before the game?

– I’ll summarize my card with some words that together will say everything.

Unbelievable! Joy! And huge desire!

Excitement, nervousness, intermixed with pride and happiness.

Do you think the competition you have participated in has been good? Why has it been good or bad?

– Yes, I think everything has been good, for sure. All we have are six people who were fortunate enough to win this competition. We had great fun together; laughed a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed competing.

How do think the game will end?

– We must wait and see, personally, I like surprises. Whatever the outcome, all players regardless of the winner team, are dear to my heart as a true supporter!

21/02/2015

Chile confirms a friendly match vs. Iran

Jorge Sampaoli’s team will head to Austria for penultimate friendly before Copa América squad is announced

Chile have announced that they are to take on Iran in a friendly at the end of March. The match was supposed to be played in Sweden but the host nation’s FA objected to the venue as it claimed it will clash with the later match between Sweden and Iran on 31st of March.

Jorge Sampaoli’s men will travel to Austria for the match which will take place at the NV Arena in St Pölten on Thursday, March 26.

La Roja have played Iran twice previously in friendlies; winning a 1972 meeting 2-1, before drawing 1-1 in a match played in Hong Kong in 1998.

The forthcoming encounter forms part of a double-header of fixtures – the final international dates before Sampaoli names his squad for the Copa América.

Three days after facing Iran, La Roja will play South American rivals Brazil at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London.

Chile will host this summer’s Copa América and have been drawn in Group A alongside Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia.

12/02/2015

10 places up in FIFA ranking for Team Melli.

Team Melli climbed 10 places up in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola ranking issued today in Zurich. Iran is now 41^st in the world with 700 points one rank below Poland and one above its group rival in the World Cup 2014 , Nigeria who are 42^nd.

Iran continues to hold the top ranking in Asia, with South Korea placed second with 608 points followed by Japan with 605 on third. Australia, the Asian Cup winner has fourth with a massive 37 places rise in the table.

The Asian teams climbs are all attributed to the results of the recent Asian Cup 2015 held in Australia.

Rank	Team	Total Points	Previous Points	+/-	AVG 2015	Avg. 2014	AVG WGT 2014	Avg. 2013	AVG WGT 2013
41	Iran	700(700.50)	588	10	342.12	444.24	222.12	242.98	72.89
54	Korea Republic	608(608.24)	487	15	343.57	225.59	112.80	277.31	83.19
55	Japan	605(604.87)	563	-1	327.02	205.07	102.53	386.87	116.06
63	Australia	548(548.21)	329	37	272.38	259.19	129.59	229.34	68.80
66	United Arab Emirates	529(528.94)	408	14	245.47	377.77	188.88	241.93	72.58
71	Uzbekistan	493(492.64)	464	0	202.48	287.67	143.84	331.28	99.38
82	China PR	429(429.19)	339	14	244.98	189.38	94.69	140.03	42.01
91	Oman	368(367.51)	346	2	146.02	255.33	127.66	167.45	50.23
94	Iraq	360(360.10)	269	20	225.82	59.48	29.74	163.04	48.91
97	Jordan	353(352.54)	346	-4	102.88	310.32	155.16	160.85	48.25
98	Saudi Arabia	351(351.10)	318	4	122.58	297.06	148.53	127.91	38.37
103	Bahrain	322(322.48)	292	7	162.53	183.65	91.82	108.93	32.68
109	Qatar	305(305.34)	347	-17	141.62	150.66	75.33	173.98	52.19

29/12/2014

Squads of UAE , Qatar and Bahrain.

Team Melli will be facing a tough task against 3 well prepared team in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia.

With all the 3 opponents starting their preparation at least six months ahead of the competition and playing numerous friendly games, Team Mell has only managed one game against South Korea in Tehran while a scheduled match against Palestine was canceled in Azadi by the guests. Team Melli should have one last friendly against Iraq in Sydney.

On paper , Qatar is considered the favorite to qualify or top the group. Iran & UAE have equal chances to join the Qatari team while Bahrain is not been given much hope by the experts after their poor showing in the Gulf Cup and going through their 3rd coaching changes in a short time.

UAE

Exciting Al Ain playmaker Omar Abdulrahman has been included in the 24-man United Arab Emirates squad for next month’s AFC Asian Cup in Australia.

23-year-old Abdulrahman played a key role in Al Ain’s progress to the AFC Champions League semifinals this year. He has been selected in the squad by coach Madhi Ali, despite not having played competitive football since sustaining an injury during last month’s Gulf Cup. UAE were defeated 3-2 by eventual runners-up Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.

“Omar Abdulrahman is fine, his doctor reports he has started jogging. He needs five to seven days to get back to full fitness,” coach Ali told the official AFC Asian Cup website.

UAE are in the all-West Asian Group C of the elite continental competition along with fancied Iran — who impressed at June’s World Cup in Brazil — and neighbours Bahrain plus Gulf Cup winners Qatar.

Ali has named six players who were not part of the Gulf Cup squad for the elite continental competition beginning in January. Al Ahli goalkeeper Majed Nasser and Al Wahda centre-back Hamdan Al Kamali have been recalled to the side.

UAE will play friendlies against Jordan and Kuwait after reaching Australia on Wednesday. After the friendlies, Ali will trim his squad down to 23 players.

UAE — who reached the final of the competition in 1996 when they were hosts — take on Qatar on Jan. 11 in their first group game in Canberra.

Squad:

Goalkeepers Majed Nasser, Ali Khaseif, Khalid Essa,

Defenders: Mohammed Fawzi, Abdulaziz Haikal, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohamed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Mohanad Salem,

Midfielders: Ismail Al Hammadi, Hassan Ibrahim, Majed Hassan, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Amer Abdulrahman, Haboosh Saleh, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman,

Forwards: Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Khalil, Salem Saleh, Saeed Al Kathiri

[divider]

QATAR

Doha: Experienced striker Sebastian Soria was left out of Qatar’s 23-man squad for next month’s Asian Cup with the Gulf Cup winners instead opting for uncapped African-born forwards Tresor Kangambu and Mohammad Montari.

Soria won his 100th cap for Qatar in October and marked the milestone by scoring in a 3-0 success over fellow Asian Cup finalists Uzbekistan but it was not enough to make the squad for the Gulf Cup tournament the following month.

The 31-year-old has continued to score goals for Qatar Stars League champions Lekhwiya but national team head coach Djamel Belmadi opted against a recall when he named his travelling party for the Jan 9-31 tournament in Australia.

The Algerian instead went for the Congolese-born Kangambu, a wide forward who plays alongside Soria at the league leaders, and El Jaish’s striker Montari, who was born in Ghana.

The 27-year-old Kangambu moved to Qatar four years ago, while 21-year-old Montari has been in a rich vein of form for his club side in recent weeks. The duo joined Asian Player of the Year nominee Khalfan Ibrahim in the squad after the Al Sadd playmaker was recalled after he missed the Gulf Cup because of injury. Qatar have been drawn in an all West Asian Group C in Australia alongside Bahrain, Iran and United Arab Emirates.

The Maroons faceD final warm-up matches against Estonia , which saw them easily win 3-0 and Oman next week before they kick-off their campaign in Canberra on Jan. 11 against the UAE.

The 2022 World Cup hosts staged the Asian Cup four years ago, matching their tournament best showing of a quarter-final berth in 2000.

Squad :

Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb (Al Sadd), Ahmed Sufyan (El Jaish), Qasem Burhan (Al Gharafa)

Defenders: Ahmadi Ali Mukhtar (Al Sadd), Abdelkarim Hassan (Al Sadd), Ibrahim Majid (Al Sadd), Mohammed Musa (Lekhwiya), Khalid Muftah (Lekhwiya), Abdulrahman Issa (El Jaish), Bilal Mohammed (Al Gharafa)

Midfielders: Khalfan Ibrahim (Al Sadd), Ali Assadalla (Al Sadd), Karim Boudiaf (Lekhwiya), Mohammed Muntari (El Jaish), Majed Mohammed (El Jaish), Khaled Al Zereiqi (El Jaish), Boualem Khoukhi (Al Arabi), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al Arabi), Ahmed Abdul Maqsood (Umm Salal)

Forwards:

Hassan Al Haidos (Al Sadd), Ismaeel Mohammad (Lekhwiya), Mohammed Tresor Abdullah (Lekhwiya), Meshal Abdullah (Al Ahli)

BAHRAIN

The Bahrain national soccer team arrived yesterday in Balart City, Australia, for their second training camp ahead of the 2015 Asia Cup to be held in Australia from January 9 to 31.

Bahrain are in Group ‘C’ with Iran, Qatar and the UAE.

Bahrain completed their first training camp in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and the second camp will run till January 7.

The team will play its first friendly match tomorrow against Saudi Arabia.

They held their first practice session yesterday evening under the supervision of national coach Marjan Eid and his assistant Isa Al Sadoon. The team warmed up and worked out some tactical moves while the goalkeepers trained separately under goalkeepering caoch Abdulla Belal.

Faisal Bu Dahoom and Abdulla Abdo also trained separately under physical fitness trainer Deen Taylor as they are yet to fully recover from recent injuries.

The team will have an early evening training session before the friendly game tomorrow.

Coach Eid has included all three professional players – Fawzi Ayesh, Abdulla Omar and Jessi John – in the squad which was cut from 27 to 23 before leaving for Kuala Lumpur.

The trio were not selected by the previous coach Adnan Hamad of Iraq for the 22nd Gulf Cup held in Riyadh in October. Bahrain failed to qualify for the knock-out stage and coach Hamad was sacked.

The best position of Bahrain was in the 2004 edition in China where they were ranked 4th. Bahrain has a player nicknamed “Karimi” after the famous Iranian player Ali Karimi.

Goalkeepers :Sayed Mohamed Jaafar (Muharraq) Ashraf Waheed (Manama), and Hamad Al-Dosari (Al Riffa)

Defenders : Mohammed Hussain (Al Nasr KSA), Hussain Baba (Al Kuwait FC KWI), Rashid Al-Houti (Al Busaiteen) , Abdullah Al-Hazza (Al Hidd) , Faisal Ali Budahoom (Al Riffa) , Mohammed Daij (Al Riffa), Walid Al Hayyam (Muharraq)

Midfielders: Abdullah Yusuf (East Riffa), Abdulla Abdo (Al Riffa), Abdullah Shallal (Al Riffa), Sami Al-Husseini (Al Busaiteen) , Abdullah Omar(Al Riffa), Fawzi Ayesh (Al Saliyya QAT), Abdul Wahab Almalood (Al Hidd)

Forwards : Ismail Abdullatif (Al Nahdha KSA), Abdulwahab Ali, Syed Zia Saeed Muharraq) , Seyed Ahmed Jaffar “Karimi” (Al Busaiteen), Jaycee John Okwunwanne (Al Khraityat QAT), Mohammed Tayeb (Al Najma)

[divider]

Group C

UAE, Iran, Bahrain, Qatar

11 Jan 2015

06:00pm

UAE vs. Qatar

Canberra Stadium

**********************************

11 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Iran vs. Bahrain

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

**********************************

15 Jan 2015

06:00pm

Bahrain vs. UAE

Canberra Stadium

**********************************

15 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Qatar vs. Iran

Stadium Australia

**********************************

19 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Iran vs UAE

Brisbane Stadium

**********************************

19 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Qatar vs. Bahrain

Stadium Australia

21/08/2014

Asian Games 2014 football draw

The draws for the men’s and women’s football tournaments at the 2014 Asian Games, to be held in Incheon, South Korea, were made on Thursday . Iran’s U23 team was drawn with Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan in Group H . Iran is coached by Nelo Vingada .

In the men’s tournament all countries will be playing their U-23 sides with 3 over age players allowed for each team.

29 nations were divided into eight groups in the men’s event with five groups of four and three groups of three teams.

The women’s event has 11 teams with two groups of four and one group of three countries and unlike the men, every nation would be fielding their senior national team.

Men’s draw

Group A: Laos, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Korea Republic

Group B: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan

Group C: Tajikistan, Singapore, Palestine, Oman

Group D: Nepal, Iraq, Kuwait, Japan

Group E: Indonesia, Timor Leste, Maldives, Thailand

Group F: Pakistan, China PR, DPR Korea

Group G: UAE, India, Jordan

Group H: Iran, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan

Women’s draw

Group A: South Korea, Thailand, India, Maldives

Group B: Japan, China, Jordan, Chinese Taipei

Group C: North Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong

15/08/201415/08/2014

Iran climbs 1 place in August 2014 FIFA Ranking

Team Melli climbed 1 place up in the August 2014 FIFA ranking to 48th place below Paraguay and above Montenegro. Iran dropped 6 places last month despite playing in the FIFA World Cup down in the world ranking to no. 49

There is no change in the continental ranking top 2 in Asia as Japan maintains its top rank followed by Iran in second.

Officially there is only one friendly match arranged between now and the start of the AFC 2015 Asian Cup in Australia starting mid January.

Iran is also without a coach as the negotiations between FFIRI and Queiroz has stalled,

Aug 2014

Last Updated 14 Aug 2014

Next Release 18 Sep 2014

Rnk	Zon. Rnk	Team	Pts	+/- Pos
44	1	Japan	593	1
48	2	Iran	563	1
51	3	Uzbekistan	528	1
56	4	Jordan	500	1
57	5	Korea Republic	499	-1
65	6	United Arab Emirates	464	0
67	7	Oman	447	2
79	8	Australia	391	-3
83	9	Saudi Arabia	377	-5
88	10	Palestine	363	-3

10/08/2014

AFC U-14 Championship. Iran to Meet Iraq in the Semi.

the-afc.com

Hamedan: Iraq smashed five past Thailand to claim pole position in Group B and set up a daunting tie against hosts Iran in the semi-finals of the AFC U-14 Championship 2014.

Mohanad Ali Kadhim continued his brilliant run in front of the goal by scoring twice, while Ali Kadhim, Abbas Mohsin and Ahmad Swadi were also on the scoresheet at the Mofateh Stadium..

Iraq remained unbeaten in Group B, bagging seven points from three matches to finish top, while at the Hajibabaie Stadium, Korea Republic fought hard to edge Tajikistan 2-0 and set up to set up another potentially classic semi-final against traditional rivals DPR Korea.

It took just 10 minutes for Kadhim (Mohanad) to open Iraq’s account after they were awarded a penalty. He further extended the lead in the 37th minute after Kadhim (Ali) had made it 2-0 in the 18th minute. There were second-half goals from substitute Abbas who scored shortly before the hour mark, and a stoppage time strike from another substitute Swadi.

“It is very important to qualify as a group winner, this gives you a psychological advantage,” Iraq coach Sadd Hashim told www.the-afc.com.

“However, I’m not overly ecstatic about our performance today. There is still room for improvement, and I am sure that we will see a different Iraq team on Monday,” he added.

Thailand finished the campaign with one win and two losses but coach Somsak Senchaowanich hailed the campaign as ‘successful’.

“We played good football but failed to qualify. I am not totally dejected, we will continue to improve in the future,” he added.

Iran will play Iraq on Monday 11th August at for a place in the final match.

25/06/2014

World Cup 2014 Group’F’: How can the teams qualify?

Ahead of the final round of fixtures in Group F, we look at the various permutations.

Argentina – Qualified

Lionel Messi’s late goal over Iran last week booked a place for the Argentinians in the last 16. A draw over second place Nigeria will see them top Group F.

Nigeria – Must draw with Argentina

A draw between Nigeria and Argentina will work well for both teams as the South Americans will win the group with the Africans guaranteeing their place in the knock-out stages. A win for Nigeria over Argentina will see them top Group F, sending Argentina into second place.

Iran – Need to beat Bosnia-Hercegovina and require Argentine win over Algeria, with a superior goal difference

After losing to Argentina in the cruellest fashion last week, the Iranians now rely on them to triumph over Algeria whilst making sure they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in the process. Even then, Iran will need a superior goal difference to advance.

Bosnia-Herzegovina – Out

With two losses from two games, Bosnia-Herzegovina are guaranteed to be spectators following the conclusion of the group matches.

24/06/201424/06/2014

Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Iran – Match Preview

By Jimmy Coverdale

Jun-24-2014

Onazi Ghoochannejhad Nigeria Iran Action Images John Sibley

Photo by Action Images/John Sibley

Match: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Iran

Date and Time: Wednesday 26 June 13:00 Local Time, 18:00 GMT, 20:30 Tehran Time

Location: Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Match Projection:

Match Preview:

Prior to the commencement of the World Cup, this fixture was earmarked as a potential round of 16 decider with one of these nations requiring Argentina to defeat Nigeria to aid the progression of the other. The expectancy was that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be the nation on the brink of the World Cup knockout stage with Iran heading home; however this is not the case.

Bosnia and Herzegovina can feel aggrieved at this point regarding its early World Cup exit given the performance of the officials during its defeat against Nigeria – so things could have been very different had Edin Dzeko’s first have goal had not been wrongly disallowed for offside. That said, Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and some poor finishing also contributed to Bosnia’s defeat and elimination.

The question is how Safet Susic approaches this match. Will he revert to the 4-1-3-2 that worked so well during qualification or continue to use the 4-2-3-1 with a more defensive approach? Will he play other members of his squad now that Bosnia have been eliminated? In either scenario, it could mean that Vedad Ibisevic starts for Bosnia, scorer of Bosnia’s only goal of the competition so far. However, the early exit does not mean that players have not impressed; Miralem Pjanic, who is expected to be fit after missing training on Monday, has been the creative influence in the side with 10 shot assists – with everything going through the Roma midfielder – while Muhamed Besic has been a workhorse in the midfield, covering 23.5 km between the two matches while leading the side in passes (65.0 per 90), passing accuracy (91.5%), interceptions (6) as well as providing 2 shot assists.

The story here, however, is Iran’s potential progression to the World Cup knockout stage. While a 1-0 win may well be enough, it does need Argentina to beat Nigeria – and if both matches end up with 1-0 score lines in Iran’s favour it will come down to drawing lots for the first time in the History of the World Cup (and some people claim that penalties are a lottery!).

Iran were moments away from creating one of the shocks of this World Cup and having a wider margin for error entering this contest in the process; however Lionel Messi’s incredible late winner has resulted in Carlos Queiroz’s side requiring the Iran win/Nigeria lose combination of results in order to progress. However, for a national team that failed to play a single game for 119 days following its qualification due to sanctions placed against the nation at a political level, the fact that it enters its final group stage match with a chance of qualifying for the round of 16 is an achievement in itself.

Like Nigeria and Argentina before them, Bosnia and Herzegovina are going to find it tough to break through Queiroz’s hard-working, well-disciplined side set up with men behind the ball in a 4-2-3-1 formation that is more like a 4-5-1. The two defensive midfielders, Andranik Teymourian and Javad Nekounam embody its hard-working nature, covering distances of 21.9 km and 21.8 km respectively as the Iranians spend a lot of time without possession – averaging just 27.4% over its first two matches, the lowest average possession in the World Cup so far. Teymourian and Nekounam are the only players in the Iranian squad to have surpassed 40 pass attempts between the first two matches – with all but four players attempting less than 30.

Still, Iran probably had the best opportunities to score against both Nigeria and Argentina, as well as looking more likely to score during an impressive second half against the South American nation before Messi’s moment of brilliance. While Iran had one good chance against Nigeria – a Reza Ghoochanneijhad header from an Ashkan Dejagah corner – both players had strong opportunities against Argentina as Iran had a number of opportunities in the central zone of the box:

Ghoochanneijhad and Dejagah are Iran’s main attacking threats but Queiroz may field a more attacking line-up against Bosnia. The Charlton striker embodies Iran’s hard-working nature (21.4 km covered so far) while attempting a team-leading seven shots, but the creative force in the side is Dejagah (five shot assists as 17.9% of his passes have created opportunities). If Iran are going to score at this World Cup, one of these two players will be involved regardless of who else joins them in the Iranian attack – and potentially both. Queiroz knows that his side’s finishing will need to improve.

”My major concern is to keep players focused,” Queiroz told reporters. ”And, they’ll need to convert those chances.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina are the favourites according to the BSports Match Analysis tool, which really is unsurprising given the players available to Safet Susic – so Iran will continue in its underdog role in a match in which it can qualify for the World Cup round of 16.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Injuries & Suspensions: Miralem Pjanic (Probable)

Iran Injuries & Suspensions: None

Other Match Analysis Forecasts: