Tehran
The excitement of the Swedish-born Iranian appearing for Team Melli has turned to a major disappointment after FIFA declared that Saman Goddos is ineligible to play for Iran.
An unnamed administrator in FFIRI has informed Khabar Varzeshi newspaper that FIFA has rejected Iran’s application due to lack of proper documentation and proofs. As such, the chance of Ghoddos making his debut tomorrow against Syria has disappeared.
As a result of his Iranian parentage, Ghoddos was eligible to be called up by both Iran and Sweden. In December 2016, Ghoddos was called up by Sweden manager Janne Andersson for friendlies against Ivory Coast and Slovakia. He scored his first international goal for Sweden in a 6–0 win over Slovakia on 12 January 2017.
In June 2017, Ghoddos revealed that he had been approached by the Iranian football federation. In an interview in July 2017, Ghoddos stated that he may accept an invitation to play for Carlos Queiroz’s Iran if he is asked. He applied for Iranian citizenship on 21st August, stating that it is an honor to play for Sweden and his decision to represent either country is “fifty-fifty”.
Ghoddos was not called into Sweden’s World Cup qualification squad on 23 August, with Janne Andersson opting to choose expatriate footballers and stating that Ghoddos is not far from a call-up if he were to remain with the Swedish national team.
in an interview on 25 August 2017, Ghoddos confirmed that he received his Iranian passport from the embassy. The following day, 26 August 2017, he announced on his Instagram page that he would be joining Team Melli for their 2018 World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Syria.
The Östersunds FK midfilder was called up for the first time to Team Melli squad on 27th August 2017 by Carlos Queiroz for Iran’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Korea and Syria.