Will Iran Qualify for World Cup 2022?

While football fans across Europe are currently assessing their team’s chances and finalising their strategies for Euro 2020 betting at Sportsbet.io, the rest of the world have their own issues to consider. In Iran, both the national team and their fans are gearing up for a final push for qualification at next year’s World Cup, to be hosted in Qatar.

Iran enjoyed a positive start to the campaign, easing past Hong Kong 2-0 before racking up a cricket score of 14-0 against group minnows Cambodia. However, they then slipped to successive defeats against Bahrain and Iraq, leaving them in third position going into the second half of the fixtures.

A third-placed finish would not necessarily be good enough to see them through into the third round of qualifying, meaning they could really do with picking up wins in their final four matches. Will they manage it? Here’s a look at the arguments for and against Iran pulling off a third successive World Cup appearance.

The case for Irani qualification

Iran have become something of a mainstay at World Cups in recent years. They reached both World Cup 2014 and 2018 under the stewardship of Carlos Queiroz, securing their place at the latter finals before any other Asian nation. Although they failed to progress from the groups on either occasion, they gave a very respectable account of themselves in Russia in a tough group containing Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

As such, they have established a pedigree for rising to the challenge when it matters most. Although Queiroz may have since departed and his successor Marc Wilmots was dismissed after the losses against Bahrain and Iraq, they have a new coach in Dragan Skocic. He has made a strong start to his international management career, winning all three friendly games so far (including a particularly impressive scalp of Bosnia & Herzegovina).

They were also the highest ranked team going into the qualifiers and boast a squad populated with several exciting players plying their trade in the European leagues. Among their stars is the Antwerp keeper Alireza Beiranvand, Gent defender Milad Mohammadi, Brighton winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh and strikers Karim Ansarifard and Mehdi Taremi from AEK Athens and Porto, respectively.

The case against Irani qualification

The biggest obstacle standing in Iran’s way is, oddly enough, themselves. Their FIFA ranking and glittering squad speaks for itself, while they have started life encouragingly under new boss Skocic. However, the damaging defeats to Bahrain and Iraq could have dented their confidence and leave them needing to play catch-up in the final games.

They have also been dealt another cruel blow of fate in that both of the reverse fixtures were supposed to take place in Tehran, giving them an important home advantage. However, the events of the last 12 months have prompted the organising bodies to move the remaining matches to a single location, thus prioritising the safety of all concerned.

Unfortunately for Iran, the destination chosen by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is Bahrain – who have already hosted (and bested) them once. Iran has since appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the decision, but given the unique circumstances surrounding Qatar 2022, it looks unlikely to bear fruit.

As a result, Iran will have to dig deep to overcome the odds and catapult themselves into an automatic qualifying position for the third round. At that point, it may come down to a luck of the draw, but Iran should not fear anyone as they seek to reach an historic third World Cup running.