Iranian stars who missed the World Cup
During the five times that Iran qualified for the World Cups, big names missed out on participating in the World Cup squads due to injuries.
Injuries are one of the biggest concerns of national coaches before the World Cup. As we get closer to these competitions, the fear of injury increases every time the stars fall. During the past few days, new players have been added to the list of those who missed the World Cup. For many players who have been injured for a long time and are undergoing treatment to be on time for this event, it is not clear what percentage of preparation they will need to be fit for the World Cup and whether they can help their team or not.
There is also this concern about Iran. Carlos Queiroz monitors the performance of the players who are likely to be on the final list every day. He has assigned his assistants inside and outside Iran to monitor the level of readiness of his players on daily basis, two of his assistants left Iran to continue the task of checking on the legionnaires a few days back. Many experts believe that along with the technical and tactical preparation of the teams, the luck of the teams in having their players in this World Cup and not getting injured before this important event is very important.
A look at the history of Iran’s Team Melli also confirms that sometimes injuries have plagued the teams and Iran has not been able to perform at its best.
ARGENTINA 1978
For the first time in history, Iran qualified for the FIFA World Cup when only 16 teams had such honor. Unfortunately, Iran left out three key players, while one star was half-fit. A few days before departing for Argentina, Reza Adelkhani was injured in a freak domestic accident that left him with severe swelling and a broken knee, he was left out.
Gholamhossein Mazloomi, the prolific striker and arguably Iran’s best missed the World Cup due to a long-term injury, leaving Team Melli with young and little-known strikers such as Hossein Fekri and Behtash Fariba. However, Iran’s greatest and most celebrated player Parviz Ghleechkhani missed the world cup altogether not because of any injury but due to political decisions as a result of his anti-regime leanings.
Hassan Rowshan, one of the scoring hopes of Iran was listed in the squad carrying an injury. and cannot accompany the national team as he should.
France 1998
While there were no significant key players missing for this edition before departure to France, Reza Shahroudi, the left back, suffered an untimely injury while he was at his peak. He lost his seat and Team Melli was suddenly in a great panic to find a replacement in time.
Injuries occurred during the 1998 World Cup in France. Team Melli suffered from injuries at the wrong time. Ahmadreza Abedzadeh, the No 1 goalkeeper, was injured before the start of the first match against Yugoslavia to add to the worries at the defense in addition to Sharoudi’s absence. Iran lost 1-0.
Germany 2006
Sattar Zare, the favorite left defender of Branko Ivankovic, was injured a few days before their departure to Germany for the World Cup, Branko Ivankovic had to look for an alternate. While at his peak, Mojtaba Jabbari did not make it to the World Cup due to a torn cruciate ligament. But a single player who was more prominent in the team and the one that worried the head coach was Alireza Vahedi-Nikbakht. The Esteghlal star enjoying his best playing days was the best-left winger in Iran in those days and he recently won the championship with Esteghlal, but a bad injury prevented him from making it to the World Cup and Mehrzad Madanchi was his replacement in Germany.
BRAZIL 2014
Hashem Beikzadeh suffered the strangest of injuries. He was a certainty as the left defender of Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup 2014, but the injury destroyed his dream and he went to the World Cup in Brazil only as a spectator.
Russia 2018
The 2018 World Cup edition in Russia, had the most number of injuries. Ali Karimi, the central midfielder, missed the chance to play in the World Cup due to an injury. Dariush Shojaeian, who was becoming a regular in Team Melli’s squad, also was injured and missed the world cup due to a torn cruciate ligament.
Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan one of Carlos Queiroz’s favorite players, could not make it due to injury. Ali Golizadeh was on the list of Queiroz before the 2018 World Cup, but the injury in the last game in the final training match led to his exclusion as the young midfielder and winger missed this tournament.
Qatar 2022
* Qatar World Cup 2022 From now on, it can be said that Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, the Hull City striker, is the first absentee from the squad for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, but there are still doubts about the next players. So far, Sardar Azmoun‘s injury has caused the most concern for the coaching staff and fans, but the necessary care is being taken for this player in order to make the squad to Qatar. Azmoun is likely to make it to the tournament according to the latest medical diagnosis as he is recovering well from the injury while warming up for the UCL match against Porto. Other players such as Ali Reza Beiranvand and Sarlak continue their recovery work with minor injuries and it does not seem that two will be absent in the World Cup. Carlos Queiroz, his third time with Iran in the World Cup is beaming with hope. He definitely does not need more bad news on the fitness of his players with less than a month to the start of the competition.
