Iran’s Amir Ghalenoei has sharp focus on next year

Thepeachreview.com – WASHINGTON D.C., Iran’s national team coach Ardeshir “Amir” Ghalenoei was present for the World Cup Final Draw that took place yesterday, December 5, at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Initially, we were told Iran wouldn’t have any representatives available during the mixed zone. Then, like magic, Ghalenoei appeared with a translator, ready to take questions.

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IR Iran) was placed in Group G alongside Egypt, Belgium, and New Zealand. Including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Iran has qualified for seven World Cups (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026). A Group G placement also guarantees at least one match in the United States.

It was inevitable that Ghalenoei would be questioned about his attendance. The past few months have been riddled with visa issues and threats of a boycott, to the point where, like I previously stated, some officials couldn’t tell us whether Iran had a delegation available for questioning.

“We are here to talk about technical matters, about the football,” he said via translator. “If you have any technical questions, I’d be happy to answer.” All of our questions were translated from Farsi into English.

Iran faces strong competition in their group with Egypt and Belgium. The Egyptians sit 34th in the world according to the Coca-Cola/FIFA rankings, but are one of the top three teams in Africa, just behind Senegal and Morocco. Belgium is ranked 8th in the world and is the sixth-best European team in the tournament. Spain, France, England, Portugal, and the Netherlands are ahead of them.

“As you are well aware, the football has improved, and all the teams are now closer together in terms of quality,” Ghalenoei said. “We’re also in a good group. Tomorrow evening we’ll be aware of the place we’re going to play (the cities), and according to that, we’ll prepare our team for the competition.”

After receiving repeated questions surrounding visas and safety, the translator reiterated that they were there to answer questions about football. So I asked what Iranian fans in America would want to know: Are there any friendlies planned in the U.S. next year before the start of the tournament?

“We were expecting the draw to happen, then decide according to the teams that are available to play,” Ghalenoei began. “We are going to play with two teams from seat one, and also two teams from seats three and four for the next FIFA international window.”

Head coach Amir Ghalenoei already has his eyes set firmly on the spring, looking to sharpen his side before the start of the tournament. According to his words, two teams from seat one would be any two from Mexico, Canada, Brazil, USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Argentina, Portugal, or England. Two teams from seats three and four widen the potential expansively, with playoffs yet to have teams placed. But from those already seeded, the two teams could potentially come from the Korea Republic, Qatar, Switzerland, Haiti, Scotland, Australia, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Norway, Austria, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Colombia, Ghana, or Panama.

Their last three World Cup appearances (2014, 2018, 2022) saw them eliminated in the group stage. With a new vision and roster, “Team Melli” is looking forward to putting politics aside and getting straight to the football.