35 named in Iran’s preliminary World Cup squad

Persianfootball.com – TEHRAN, There were barely any surprises, as Iran boss Carlos Queiroz announced his 35-man squad, which will be trimmed to 23 for the World Cup, on Sunday.

Perhaps the only eyebrow-raising decisions were to drop last World Cup’s number one goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi from the squad and the comeback of MLS right-back Steven Beitashour.

Haghighi had joined GIF Sundsvall after a great season with another Swedish team, Eskilstuna, but failed to play a single match there in 2018.

31-year-old Beitashour of Los Angeles FC has been capped six times for Iran so far and was part of the 2014 World Cup squad. However, the defender neither played a single minute in Brazil nor has been called up to the national team since then.

Also in the squad are injured veteran playmakers Ashkan Dejagah and Masoud Shojaei, who both are uncertain to regain fitness on time. Defensive midfielder Saeid Ezatollahi, despite being suspended for the opener against Morocco, made the list as well.

Below comes the 35-man roster.

Goalkeepers:
Alireza Beiranvand – Persepolis
Rashid Mazaheri – Zob Ahan
Amir Abedzadeh – Maritimo, POR
Hossein Hosseini – Esteghlal

Defenders:
Ramin Rezaeian – Oostende, BEL
Vouria Gafouri – Esteghlal
Steven Beitashour – Los Angeles FC, USA
Seyed Jalal Hosseini – Persepolis
Morteza Pouraliganji – Al Sadd, QAT
Pejman Montazeri – Esteghlal
Mohammad-Reza Khanzadeh – Padideh
Rouzbeh Cheshmi – Esteghlal
Majid Hosseini – Esteghlal
Mohammad Ansari – Persepolis
Milad Mohammadi – FC Akhmat, RUS
Saeid Aghaei – Sepahan
Omid Nourafkan – Esteghlal

Midfielders:
Saeid Ezatollahi – Amkar, RUS
Ehsan Hajsafi – Olympiacos, GRE
Omid Ebrahimi – Esteghlal
Ali Karimi – Sepahan
Ahmad Abdollahzadeh – Foolad
Masoud Shojaei – AEK Athens, GRE
Ashkan Dejagah – Nottingham Forest, ENG
Soroush Rafiei – Al Khor, QAT

Wingers:
Alireza Jahanbakhsh – AZ Alkmaar, NED
Mehdi Taremi – Al Gharaffa, QAT
Saman Ghoddos – Oestersunds, SWE
Vahid Amiri – Persepolis
Mehdi Torabi – Saipa
Ali Gholizadeh – Saipa

Strikers:
Sadar Azmoun – Rubin Kazan, RUS
Karim Ansarifard – Olympiacos, GRE
Reza Ghoochannejhad – Heerenveen, NED
Kaveh Rezaei – Charleroi, BEL