Dragan Skočić In or Dragan Skočić Out?

[milad_b]

I think we're looking at different sides of the coin. Seeding will be key. It will either be very easy, or very hard.

Yes True and I agree with you on that .Nothing is 100% clear yet but there are some factors that shows it will be lot easier.

E.g. 16 teams from europe.
8 Teams from Asia
9 Teams from Africa
9 teams from CONCACAF (6+3hosts)
6 Teams from CONMEBOL
2 From Play offs

So this means lots of weak teams will be in the tournament that includes weak european teams too. One thing for sure is that they will try to make the competition more entertaining by avoiding stronger teams playing with each other in group stage. + One european team is allocated to each group.

Again its possible to get a team from Europe + CONMEBOL + Asia but i think it will be based on fifa ranking. So the chances of us getting a african team is higher than CONMEBOL. Also remember that Mexico , Canada , USA are all allocated to first three groups which also includes a european team.

To early for this discussion but I am positive about it and I think advancing out of the group to round of 32 won't be considered a big thing in 2026. If we don't make it to round of 16 This year then It will be lot harder to make it to round of 16 in 2026.

[DR Strangemoosh]

Qualifying for the 2nd round will be very tough in World Cup 2026.
The tournament will open with a group stage consisting of 16 groups of three teams, with the top two teams progressing from each group to a knockout tournament starting with a round of 32 teams.

Imagine Iran falls in a group with Brazil and let's say Portugal... we wouldn't get out of the 3 team group.

2 out of 3 teams should be easier, no? Unless I'm missing something...?


Team 1 - Seeds 1-16: Brazil/France/Argentina/England/Germany/Portugal/Spain/Italy/Netherlands etc...

Team 2 - Seeds 17-32: Iran/Colombia/Japan/Peru/Senegal/Nigeria/Korea/Egypt/Poland etc...

Team 3 - Seeds 33-48: Russia/Australia/Algeria/Scotland/Austria/Slovakia/Hungary/Ecuador/Qatar/Ireland etc...

[Nokhodi]

2 out of 3 teams should be easier, no? Unless I'm missing something...?


Team 1 - Seeds 1-16: Brazil/France/Argentina/England/Germany/Portugal/Spain/Italy/Netherlands etc...

Team 2 - Seeds 17-32: Iran/Colombia/Japan/Peru/Senegal/Nigeria/Korea/Egypt/Poland etc...

Team 3 - Seeds 33-48: Russia/Australia/Algeria/Scotland/Austria/Slovakia/Hungary/Ecuador/Qatar/Ireland etc...

It really depends on seeding.
Let's say we were in a group like Iran, France, Ecuador... . that would be very hard.

I think a few years ago you and I were discussing a World League (with promotion and relegation), instead of World Cups... to me that is the future and the only way international football will survive.

[Futbaldoost]

It's amazing how the PFDC community is torn almost smack in the middle (49% IN, 51% OUT). I wouldn't be surprised if this is a rather good representation of the overall football community. There are solid arguments on both sides.

I gradually became IN starting last June and then after qualification I gradually went on the OUT side and then his overall performance before, during and after Korea match was my tipping point. My support had a conditional clause that he needed to step up and go to the next level as a coach. Well, he didn't. He lost two precious months after the qualification doing nothing about the WC preparation or even preparing well for the Korea match. If you look at his two interviews after the loss in Korea, a theme of excuses has emerged (missing many players due to COVID, jet lag, not enough time to practice together, etc.). Now he keeps saying I am not trying to come up with excuses AND that's exactly what he is doing. His denial is actually the proof. That has made me even more certain that he is not the person to lead TM in the WC.

I can see the arguments that someone like Carlvalhal will not accept the job. One alternative is to have Hashemian at the helm with Bagheri as his support (Ghermez Agha's idea) or even Yahya at the helm with the two of the former as his assistants. We need to shake this up to have any luck to get out of the group stage in the WC. Estili needs to go too ASAP. This guy is as clueless as Khorshidi (the previous admin manager) with a thicker resume.

My prediction: Unless there is a meltdown tomorrow vs Lebanon (I am sure it won't happen due to "gheyrateh bacheha" and Lebanon being even weaker than the weak team that it was before) IFF will keep both. IFF's plan for the WC: Tavakol beh khoda va gheyrateh bacheha. Taj did three major disservices to TM: Letting CQ leave, not hiring Renard with a delay and play Hong Kong with an interim coach and then hiring Wilmots.

Go TM!

[inarsenewetrust]

It's amazing how the PFDC community is torn almost smack in the middle (49% IN, 51% OUT). I wouldn't be surprised if this is a rather good representation of the overall football community. There are solid arguments on both sides.

I gradually became IN starting last June and then after qualification I gradually went on the OUT side and then his overall performance before, during and after Korea match was my tipping point. My support had a conditional clause that he needed to step up and go to the next level as a coach. Well, he didn't. He lost two precious months after the qualification doing nothing about the WC preparation or even preparing well for the Korea match. If you look at his two interviews after the loss in Korea, a theme of excuses has emerged (missing many players due to COVID, jet lag, not enough time to practice together, etc.). Now he keeps saying I am not trying to come up with excuses AND that's exactly what he is doing. His denial is actually the proof. That has made me even more certain that he is not the person to lead TM in the WC.

I can see the arguments that someone like Carlvalhal will not accept the job. One alternative is to have Hashemian at the helm with Bagheri as his support (Ghermez Agha's idea) or even Yahya at the helm with the two of the former as his assistants. We need to shake this up to have any luck to get out of the group stage in the WC. Estili needs to go too ASAP. This guy is as clueless as Khorshidi (the previous admin manager) with a thicker resume.

My prediction: Unless there is a meltdown tomorrow vs Lebanon (I am sure it won't happen due to "gheyrateh bacheha" and Lebanon being even weaker than the weak team that it was before) IFF will keep both. IFF's plan for the WC: Tavakol beh khoda va gheyrateh bacheha. Taj did three major disservices to TM: Letting CQ leave, not hiring Renard with a delay and play Hong Kong with an interim coach and then hiring Wilmots.

Go TM!

yes. It is clear there is no tactical progression from first Bahrain game until now. The performances show it. Barely beating weak lebanon and UAE sides, and by barely I do mean scoreline. It was not as if we controlled those games and had trouble breaking down opposition. That in itself might not be an issue. But actually, we were close to LOSING both of these matches. Vs UAE if not for VAR intervention we had a red card to Shoja and in general were allowing a weak emirati team a lot of space in behind our backline and surprising number of chances. Theme continued vs Lebanon, and then we had meltdown vs Korea. So far Iraq games are all sko can point to, and is that really enough to go off? What relevance will such wins have in WC situations, not sure.

In addition to these clear tactical deficiencies, failure to define identity of team, and introduce/solidify new players in problem positions, there is personal issue of skocic. He seems to have put forward no preparation plan in last 2 months, or outlined any requests to IFF for how to prepare for WC. Apparently estili himself has made a list of potential opponents and will pursue them after groups have been drawn lol. Compare to meticulous approach of CQ, already using his contacts to get us good games vs likes of Algeria, Turkey, Tunisia and putting enormous amount of pressure on lazy, incompetent IFF to get shit done.

Comparitively it seems from Sko's comments that his goal is merely participation in WC, not success. Under high pressure situations he acts in a bizarre manner (subs, comments), and frankly this qualification we have hardly been subjected to anything near what will be experienced in WC. SKO has never been exposed to such an environment before, so he is learning on the job, and so far his actions and interviews do not convey the image of somebody who knows exactly what they want and will fight to get it. Like his supporters, he is telling us things could be worse and again trying to lower expectations (today pointing to his big results vs Bahrain and Iraq).

I am not sure conditioning this team to failure this far from WC is the way to go, and would really prefer to see a more aggressive policy towards putting elements in place to maximize chance of TM success. The coach needs to take a major role in that. Unfortunately, given his lowly status and happiness to just have the job Sko doesnt seem likely to demand anything from anybody.

[milad_b]

yes. It is clear there is no tactical progression from first Bahrain game until now. The performances show it. Barely beating weak lebanon and UAE sides, and by barely I do mean scoreline. It was not as if we controlled those games and had trouble breaking down opposition.

I disagree with you regarding lebanon and UAE. We totally controlled the game against Lebanon. Regarding UAE We played 45 minutes with 10 men and still won the game. South Korea also barely beat UAE in their home . Lets see what results they get in UAE so we can then compare the strength of these teams.

I still believe
UAE and Iraq >>>>> Oman, China , Vietnam
South Korea >>>> Saudi Arabia and Australia

The only team which totally plays next level football is japan.

Again I think tactical changes during lebanon game was spot on and we should give credit to the staff. I also believe that the plan against south korea was working untill Shoja got injured. Obviously they had no controll over that and I think this was a good experience for team melli staff and skocic.


Look at the image comparing Lebanon vs iran and South korea. South Korea drew Iraq and nearly drew lebanon .

[naderb94]

Yes lets waste another golden generation on skokic...

we need to bin him asap to have any hope in WC

This team is certainly not a golden generation.. On paper, this team is weaker than 2018, but better than 2014. However, we only have 2 top caliber players on this team.. The rest are standard Team Melli players.

[nisfejahan]

What short memories.....

It was not that long ago that we lost games to teams like UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Iraq, KSA, etc....

It was not that long ago where we had to pray and hope that somebody lost to somebody so that TM makes to the WC.

It was not that long ago hat we though it would be a miracle if TM made it out of the prelim qualifying round...Remember?!! It was barely a year go.

Its not that long ago that finishing the WCQ with only one loss was a dream

So we did not beat SK. When has beating SK in their home become an easy task. We beat them in 2014 WCQ by pure luck. In 2018 WCQ, the game was much more solid, but that was after almost 7 years of having the same coach.

Skocic came into an almost no win situation. I was not a fan. But no one else dared to step up. All these Iranian coaches criticizing him did not dare to step up.

And now that the prize has been delivered with qualification, they all want a piece of the action and complain about lack of this or that. Yeah right!!!

The man has earned it already. He has delivered a result nobody, I mean nobody would have predicted. Sit back and enjoy it rather than nitpick.

and some people are asking for Mancini, haha... The guy who lost to North Macedonia, a country of 2M people, with the stacked Italian team.

[I LOVE IRAN!]

who do you guys want? When skocic was appointed, I thought TM would be doomed, but he's done a better job than anyone other coach so far. you guys just want a team like CQ who parks the bus in the WC ? Just like the previous WC if we use CQ's tactics our strikers like Taremi Jahanbakhsh Gholizadeh Ghoddos etc.. won't be able to play their game. Bruh we never beat Iraq with CQ and yet they still praised him

[peiman92]

Today our players suck. Yesterday USA/Mexico would be easy win in WC. Tomorrow Lebanon with 5-6 players missing will be challenging opponent. The Skocic cultists are really invested in him now.

What's even more mind-boggling is their excuses for the loss vs S.Korea. They even said "Shoja Khalilzadehs substitution cost us the game".
Really? Khalilzadeh? The same Khalilzadeh they wanted out of the lineup suddenly became our star player!

[peiman92]

Consistent complaints by the TM anarchists every year

- all our opponents are at their weakest ever,
- our players are all the best ever
- our league is simultaneously the worst ever, but the players who excel in it are the greatest ever
- the opponent has no agency - as long as we play well, the other side will just drop
- criticize player selection with the following notes - either we aren't starting the best, or why are we starting the best, we should start the youth

Basically to these guys and girls its like EA Sports FIFA game... where changes can be made in a nice menu, and years of conditioning, tactical education, and experience in game don't really matter.

Oh, come on dude...

You don't have to be a genius to see that the quality of Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and UAE have gotten a lot worse.
Just a quick look at the amount/quality of legionares also shows we have more potential now compared to CQ era.

The fact is S.Korea was Skocic only test and he failed miserably both times.

[O-ZoNe]

who do you guys want? When skocic was appointed, I thought TM would be doomed, but he's done a better job than anyone other coach so far. you guys just want a team like CQ who parks the bus in the WC ? Just like the previous WC if we use CQ's tactics our strikers like Taremi Jahanbakhsh Gholizadeh Ghoddos etc.. won't be able to play their game. Bruh we never beat Iraq with CQ and yet they still praised him

Some people prefer losing to Iraq with TM A lineup than to S. Korea once in 11 years with more than half the team sidelined. Can't blame them...

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[Prowess]

I think it’s completely unfair to discredit the work Skocic has done thus far, with minimal preparation (lack of comprehensive training camps, friendlies), continuing an unbeaten streak to qualify us, when fears of not making the world cup became real with Wilmots.

A team like Italy couldn’t even beat North Macedonia in a do or die game. Also, I don’t why people are discrediting our performance against South Korea from our 1st leg? We were far more the dangerous team and were unlucky to hit the post twice. No matter their ranking, they’re a good team that has always surpassed our team’s chemistry to pass the ball around (even during the CQ era).

Those thunderous shots by Ezatollahi and Taremi from that game, were not purely a result of “hero ball,” but Skocic has infused a stronger sense of offensive intent among the players. Amiri even confessed to this on the Yazdah show.

After 1 loss with several key offensive players missing, he deserves more patience. And honestly at this point, it’s way too late and risky to appoint a new coach.

[The Realist]

Unless you hire a CQ aggressive no nonsense coach, another Yes man will pick the wrong players….

[peiman92]

Eftezah, like your last 16 games in charge.
WC 22 will be a disaster with you in charge.