Taremi and Jahanbakhsh lead Iran's World Cup squad with Azmoun overlooked

Iran's Mehdi Taremi scores a penalty
Iran's Mehdi Taremi scores a penaltyReuters / Kaan Soyturk

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei named a 26-man squad for the World ⁠Cup on Monday, relying on veterans Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, while leaving out Sardar Azmoun.

Azmoun, ‌who has scored 57 goals in 91 internationals, was left ‌out of the preliminary squad, and did not ‌make the final squad, despite Iran's Vice President, Abdolkarim ‌Hosseinzadeh, calling for him to return.

Azmoun, who plays ‌for Shabab Al Ahli in the United Arab Emirates, was also omitted from the Iran squad in March, with local ‌media reporting he had been expelled ⁠from the national team ‌for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government.

Taremi, 33, ​who plays for Olympiacos, and former Brighton & Hove Albion winger Jahanbakhsh, will lead the ​attack in the tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June ⁠11th to July ​19th.

Iran, who have faced months of uncertainty over travel and security arrangements for the World Cup, will base their squad in the Mexican border city of Tijuana ‌during the finals, after the world governing body, FIFA, approved a request to move the training camp from Arizona.

Iran are scheduled to play all three of their group matches in the United States. They will take on New Zealand on June 15th and Belgium on June 21st in Los Angeles, and Egypt five days later in Seattle.

Iran's World Cup squad:

Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand, Seyed ‌Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand

Defenders: Danial Eiri, Ehsan Hajsafi, ​Saleh Hardani, Hossein Kanaani, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Milad Mohammadi, ‌Ali Nemati, Ramin Rezaeian

Midfielders: Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Mehdi Ghaedi, Saman Ghoddos, Mohammad Ghorbani, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebi, Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, Mehdi Torabi, Aria Yousefi

Forwards: Ali Alipour, Dennis Dargahi, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi ⁠Taremi, Shahriar Moghanlou