TM NEWS - VOL 8

[a_m]

27 MarchFIFA Series

New Zealand

v

Finland

Auckland, New Zealand

30 MarchFIFA Series

New Zealand

v

Chile

Auckland, New Zealand

7 JuneFriendly

England

v

New Zealand

[a_m]

Friendly

Egypt

v

Saudi Arabia

Al Rayyan, Qatar

30 MarchFriendly

Egypt

v

Spain

Lusail, Qatar

6 JuneFriendly

Brazil

v

Egypt

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

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2026Friendly

United States

v

Belgium

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

31 March 2026Friendly

Mexico

v

Belgium

Chicago, United States

2 June 2026Friendly

Croatia

v

Belgium

Rijeka, Croatia

6 June 2026Friendly

Belgium

v

Tunisia

[Super Shojaei]

Costa Rica and Nigeria close to Iran in March is decent. I am surprised TM would go to Jordan though.

A Twitter rumor says that Puerto Rico is the final friendly before the WC. Much like Queiroz would have a final, closed-door friendly against a minnow before the WC to get our B and C players some game time to gel, test out tactics, etc.

However, the important task is to set-up two to three more friendlies for May-June. Iran has close relations with a number of WC squads that are well-respected and have availability for May-June, but they need to act quickly: Algeria (#28 - available for May), Qatar (#56 - already has one May friendly), Ivory Coast (#37 - doesn't have summer friendlies yet), Bosnia (#71 - doesn't have summer friendlies yet), Tunisia (#47 - available for May). I wouldn't also discount another game against Uzbekistan (#52 - for May) or Russia (#36 - probably would've qualified if allowed) if we become desperate for WC caliber opposition.

Jordan makes sense hang around the pro IR people - anywhere in Europe would most likely induce pro RP backlash which they wouldn’t want