Iran to Meet Determined Turkmenistan: 2026 WCQ

Team Melli could be without Alireza Jahanbakhsh who suffered a hamstring injury and missed Feyenoord’s recent match against Groningen.

It is the current leader of Group E but will come up against a determined Turkmenistan under the guidance of Mergen Orazov.

The Central Asian side based itself in the United Arab Emirates for preparation, playing a closed door friendly against Kazakhstan in the process.

“During the training sessions, we paid special attention to tactics and the interaction of the players so that they can better understand each other on the field,” said Orazov.

“We are using friendly games to show our strengths and weaknesses. Our goal is to achieve maximum preparation and show a decent result in upcoming matches.”