Despite the excuses offered by Amir Ghalenoei to justify Iran’s defeat against Qatar, the evidence suggests he fell short in multiple areas, chief among them, player selection. Team Melli lost to the same Qatari side they had convincingly beaten 4-1 in their previous encounter. This time, however, Qatar was significantly weaker: fresh off a 3-1 loss to Kyrgyzstan and with their World Cup qualification hopes dashed, their morale was at rock bottom. The opportunity to exploit their vulnerability was clear, yet Iran failed miserably.

A combination of nostalgia, overconfidence, and questionable decision-making led Ghalenoei to field a lineup that, on paper, never looked capable of securing victory. Whether out of sentimentality (given his history with Al-Sadd) or misplaced faith in certain players, his choices backfired spectacularly. The result? A disjointed, uninspired performance riddled with amateurish errors and a glaring lack of tactical coherence.

A Predictable Outcome

The match followed a familiar script for those who have watched Ghalenoei’s Iran: rigid tactics, reliance on underperforming veterans, and a refusal to adapt. While Japan, Asia’s top-ranked team, experimented with nine new players in their loss to Australia, Ghalenoei stubbornly stuck with the same old faces and paid the price.

A coach resistant to criticism, Ghalenoei only seems to reconsider his approach after humiliating defeats. Yet, even then, his changes tend to be superficial rather than transformative. Many believe he will continue to favor aging, underperforming players unless forced by public pressure to make meaningful adjustments.

What Team Melli’s Lineup Should Be

Based on merit and current form, this is the starting XI Iran should field in upcoming matches against North Korea:

Starting XI:

• GK: Seyed Hossein Hosseini
• DEF: Sadegh Moharrami – Amin Hevbavi – Aref Aghasi – Omid Noorafkan
• MID: Mehdi Hasheminejad – Saman Ghoddos – Roozbeh Cheshmi
• ATT: Mehdi Taremi – Javad Hosseinnejad – Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh

Players Who Should Be Dropped

• Alipour & Moghanlou: Neither has shown the consistency or impact required at this level.
• Khalilzadeh: Past his prime and prone to costly mistakes.
• Saleh Hardani: While dangerous as an attacking full-back, his defensive frailties are too glaring to ignore.
• Milad Mohammadi: His poor disciplinary record and declining form warrant exclusion. Simply pleading for forgiveness isn’t enough—Iran has plenty of alternatives who deserve a chance.

Time for Change

Ghalenoei must stop treating Team Melli as a retirement home for senior players. Iran has a wealth of emerging talent, but they need opportunities to prove themselves. If he continues down this path, the team’s stagnation will only deepen—and more humiliations will follow.

Doha: Qatar kept their FIFA World Cup qualification hopes alive on Thursday as Pedro Correia scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over the 10 men of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Doha to confirm his side’s progress to the playoffs of the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ - Road to 26.

The back-to-back AFC Asian Cup™ champions made the most of Milad Mohammadi’s 35th minute sending off to secure a win against the already-qualified Iranians as Qatar moved into fourth place in Group A and advance to the playoffs, where an additional two slots to the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be at stake.

Correia netted in the 41st minute and victory in Julien Lopetegui’s first game in charge takes the Qataris onto 13 points from nine games and leaves the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts a point behind the United Arab Emirates with Tuesday’s clash with Uzbekistan remaining.

The Iranians went into the game having confirmed their progress to a seventh FIFA World Cup in March and Saeid Ezatolahi twice tested Meshaal Barsham inside the first 10 minutes, the goalkeeper dealing with both efforts as the visitors started the game on the front foot.

It took Qatar time to settle and Ahmed Al Ganehi hit a rising shot over the bar in the 17th minute at the end of a fluent move that had seen Edmilson Junior find Almoez Ali in the area, allowing the AFC Asian Cup winner to lay off possession to his team mate.

Two quick yellow cards in succession saw Iranian defender Mohammadi sent off, the veteran dismissed with more than 10 minutes remaining in the first half for a clumsy challenge on Edmilson Junior that saw him fly into the back of the Belgium-born winger.

Alireza Beiranvand was at full stretch to keep out Akram Afif’s low effort from the edge of the area soon after Mohammadi was dismissed and, with four minutes left in the half, the Iranian goalkeeper was beaten as Qatar took the lead.

Karim Boudiaf clipped the ball into the penalty area for Correia and the persistent full-back slotted past Beiranvand from close range at the second attempt after the goalkeeper had saved his initial header from close range.

Group A: Qatar v IR Iran

Roozbeh Cheshmi had a sight of goal for the Iranians midway through the half as he nodded Saman Ghoddos’ cross wide of Barsham’s goal in a reminder to the Qataris of the threat their visitors presented despite being a man down.

But Qatar held on to take the three points to maintain their FIFA World Cup qualifying dream by handing the Iranians their first defeat of the third phase of the preliminaries.

Mehdi Ghaedi will miss Iran’s upcoming matches against Qatar and North Korea after sustaining an injury during training. According to ISNA, the winger left the session in Doha after straining his left calf muscle.

Team medical staff confirmed that further tests will be conducted within the next 24 hours, but initial assessments suggest Ghaedi will require three weeks to recover. Following the injury, assistant coach Nasrollah Abdollahi consoled Ghaedi, spending several minutes by his side.

Ghaedi’s absence adds to Iran’s growing injury concerns, as Sardar Azmoun , Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebi, Ali Gholizadeh, and Seyyed Majid Hosseini had already been ruled out of the two matches