Sweden-based midfielder George Felix Melki and Al Nejmeh defender Kassem El Zein are available for Lebanon after serving one-match bans while goalkeeper Moustafa Matar is expected to feature despite picking up a shoulder injury playing for Al Ahed last weekend.

“After the performance, we had against Syria in the last match we proved that we can beat any team,” said midfielder Nader Matar. “There is great determination in our team and we promise our fans to give our best in this match in order to get a positive result.”

Lebanon, who are unbeaten in their last 12 games on home soil, are third in Group A with five points from their first four games and trail the Iranians by five points as the group approaches the halfway point.

Only the top two teams in the group are guaranteed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with the third-placed finishers entering into a series of playoffs.

Dragan Skocic’s side started their campaign to secure the country a third successive FIFA World Cup qualification – and sixth in total – with three wins in a row before being held to a 1-1 draw by the second-placed Koreans.

The Croatian has not selected Porto striker Mehdi Taremi for the games against both Lebanon and Syria, who they face on November 16, while defenders Morteza Pouraliganji and Aref Gholami as well as Turkey-based midfielder Ali Karimi have been ruled out due to injury.

The game will be the first between the two countries since they faced off in qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 in November 2013. The Iranians won that game 4-1.

Lebanon and Iran last met in FIFA World Cup qualifying earlier the same year, with the Carlos Queiroz-coached Team Melli notching up a comfortable 4-0 victory in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.

Lebanon v IR Iran
Venue: Saida Municipal Stadium (Saida)
Kickoff: November 11, 20:00 (UTC+2)