Early WC 23 Man Final Roster Predictions

[Iranianarsenal11]

Wanted to make this thread for those who wanted to mess around and make predictions for the 23 man squad for the upcoming world cup! Looking back, one thing CQ did in 2014 and 2018 was that he dropped a few experienced players in place of young talents such as Majid Hosseini in 2018 and Alireza Jahanbakhsh in 2014.

No one was expecting guys like Khalatbari and Jalal Hosseini to be dropped in 2014 and 2018 respectively, yet they were.

I hope Skocic will do the same with some of our more talented U23 players.


MY 23 MAN PREDICTION:

=Goalkeepers

-Amir Abedzadeh
-Alireza Beiranvand
-Payam Niazmand

This one was pretty easy, as all three goalkeepers will most likely stay the same. 4th guy off the list in case of injury is Mohammad Reza Akhbari who I believe is one of the best goalkeepers in the PGPL right now.

=Center backs

-Kanaanizadegan
-Majid Hosseini
-Pouraliganji

My prediction is aging Shoja Khalilzadeh, who is turning 33 soon, will be dropped assuming Pouraliganji is back to being fully healthy. I believe they will only call up 3 CB's with Omid Noorafkan being able to play CB in case of emergency.

=Wing backs

-Omid Noorafkan
-Sadegh Moharrami
-Milad Mohammadi
-Saleh Hardani

This one is relatively straightfoward to me. Starters should be Noorafkan and Moharrami. Yes, there are question marks at both left and right back but until a future star pops out, these are the best four we have in my opinion. Esmaeilifar may be better than Hardani but Hardani's youth and recent callups give him the edge.

=Midfielders

-Vahid Amiri
-Saeid Ezatolahi
-Saman Ghoddos
-Ahmad Nourollahi
-Yasin Salmani
-Milad Sarlak
-Alireza Jahanbakhsh
-Ali Gholizadeh
-Mohammad Mohebbi

Ah, the midfield group is naturally the largest and will be the one with the most discrepancies. A lot of people favor Ali Karimi but with his injury history and lack of playing time he doesn't make the 23 man squad for me. Torabi the Hezbollahi finally gets dropped and young Yasin Salmani gets his chance. I also believe Mohammad Mohebbi will finish off the 2021-2022 Primeira Liga season very well and get a spot too over a struggling Mehdi Ghayedi.

=Strikers/Center Forwards

-Sardar Azmoun
-Mehdi Taremi
-Karim Ansarifard
-Allahyar Sayyadmanesh

Kaveh finally gets dropped. Not much to add about the rest of the players as they are quite obvious!


Standby players in case of injury:

-Mohammad Reza Akhbari
-Siavash Yazdani
-Jafar Salmani
-Mehdi Mehdipour
-Kamal Kamyabinia
-Mehdi Torabi
-Shahab Zahedi

[Nika89]

Ehsan Hafjsafi ?

He will be in our final Roster for sure and also maybe a starter at LWB..

[Iranianarsenal11]

Ehsan Hafjsafi ?

He will be in our final Roster for sure and also maybe a starter at LWB..

I think he will be dropped considering we have Noorafkan as a starter, Milad as a backup and Amiri as emergency LB

[Omid177]

If one CB has to get dropped then it will be Majid Hosseini for sure. Dragan loves Shoja like his own son and will definitely not drop him. On the other hand Majid doesn't have Dragans trust at all. He didn't even let him start against Cambodia. The worst thing about Dragan's TM is that the opponents will have an easy time to analyze our team. He is going to use the same 11 as always. CQ often came with surprises.

But you know what? I truly believe that Shoja will get exposed against Korea badjooooor and Dragan will finally realize how wrong he was about his son.

[Iranianarsenal11]

If one CB has to get dropped then it will be Majid Hosseini for sure. Dragan loves Shoja like his own son and will definitely not drop him. On the other hand Majid doesn't have Dragans trust at all. He didn't even let him start against Cambodia. The worst thing about Dragan's TM is that the opponents will have an easy time to analyze our team. He is going to use the same 11 as always. CQ often came with surprises.

But you know what? I truly believe that Shoja will get exposed against Korea badjooooor and Dragan will finally realize how wrong he was about his son.

This is my belief as well. Skocic may be a yes man, but he's not an idiot... Shoja's last OK game was in October 2021. Since then he's been terrible.

I too doubt he gets dropped but I really hope Skocic can see that he's not TM material

[BacheLot]

Shoja will all but certainly make the WC traveling roster, and probably gets starting nod as well...!
would be wise to take 4min CBs + Omid as alt. WB/CB..!
that is the position we are most probably to get challenged at at wc and depth/options much required to squeeze out a draw at least vs likely couple of superior opponents in group stage..!
i like the rest of those suggested ... im hoping Zahedi squeak himself through as well..!
I really hope we do away with Hsafi too ... but sadly i think he still is likely to make it... ? due mostly to his experience and playing position versatility
ps
i dont see much use for non-physical, lightweight players at WC either...!! WC games are often played very physically at extremely high intensity levels and the likes of Hardani or mall walker ghaeidi will be walked all over and wont stand a slightest chance of having an impact..! Omid looks vulnerable on that front still hence highly unlikely to be trusted as a CB..! even a quality footballer like Saman would fail to have any meaningful impact if he doesnt step up his stamina and playing energy levels by then... otherwise he'd be best off brought on off the bench in 2nd halves after the likely maddening pace of the games naturally wear out..!

[taremiscores]

You're missing Silvan Hefti.

[Leicester City]

You're missing Silvan Hefti.

You are laughing, but Italy just recently called up 2 Brazilians to their NT: Joao Pedro and Luiz Felipe

[PSGman#19]

My 23 :
Gk : abedzadeh, beiro, niazmand (reserve : akhbari)
Lb : milmo, amiri hajsafi (reserve : naderi, nourafkan)
Rb : moharami, hardani
Cb : pag, Hosseini, shoja, kanaani (reserve : aghasi)
Cm : ezza, y. Salmani, ali karimi (reserve : nour)
OM/winger : gholi, JB, ghoddos, mohebi
Striker : Azmoun, Taremi, Allahyar, Zahedi (reserve : Ansarifard, Rezaei)

[naderb94]

I personally will be shocked if they leave Hajsafi off the WC team.. He's experienced and can play multiple positions.

[Sha_Melli90]

*GOALKEEPERS*
Alireza Beiranvand
Amir Abdedzadeh
Payam Niazmand

*CENTERBACKS*
Hossein Kaananidzegan
Majid Hosseini
Morteza Pouraliganji

*LEFT BACKS*
Milad Mohammadi
Omid Noorafkan

*RIGHT BACKS*
Sadegh Moharrami
Saleh Hardani

*MIDFIELDERS*
Saei Ezatolahi
Vahid Amiri
Ehsan Hajsafi
Saman Ghoddos
Ahmad Nourallahi
Omid Ebrahimi

*WINGERS*
Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Ali Gholizadeh

*FORWARDS*
Mehdi Taremi
Sardar Azmoun
Allahyar Sayyadmanesh
Shahab Zahedi
Karim Ansarifard

[milad_b]

Honestly i don't understand why people choosing Pouraliganji??? How do you guys know that he will be performing as he used to?? he hasn't played for 8 months.

For me right now Kanani , Shoja , Hosseini , Siavash (Pourali ganji if he performs).

So my list would be:

Goali: Beiro , Abezadeh , Niazman

DF: Moharami , Hardani , Kanani , Shoja , Hosseini , Siavash , Noorafkan , Vahid

MD: Yasin Salmani, Ghoddos , Ahmad noor , Sarlak , Ezzatolahi (sadly hajsafi)

FW: Jahanbakhsh , Mehdi , Sardar , mohebi , Allahyar , Karim, gholi.


Ps: We all know both karim and hajsafi will be in the list.

[Mahsaa]

When i see this Squads i see that we are not as good as i thought, nobody in defense is really outstanding , starting from defense to defensive midfield.
just compare it to our offense which has Azmoun,Taremi,Jahanbakhsh,Ghoddos,Sayyadmanesh.... .....,

I hope we find a solution for the defense problem, and players like kamyabinia,sarlak,hardani,......show that we have to work on better players.

[Artaxerxes]

Amir

Sadegh Kaanani Majid Milad

Morteza Saeed

ARJ Ghoddos Taremi

Azmoun

What do you think about this lineup whit Morteza as DM whit Saeed , he has played there before if i am not mistaken?

[Karimi 8]

I think he will be dropped considering we have Noorafkan as a starter, Milad as a backup and Amiri as emergency LB

One can only hope