Iran have suffered a major blow on the pitch ahead of the World Cup season after winger Ali Gholizadeh suffered a season-ending knee injury while playing for his club Lech Poznan in Poland.
Gholizadeh, who would have started on the right flank for Iran during the World Cup, was taken off the field against Motor Lublin last Saturday and tests later confirmed he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“Gholizadeh will undergo surgery in the coming days, followed by several months of rehabilitation,” the club said in a statement.
Although there are still some doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup due to the war with the United States and Israel, the home players have continued their tournament preparations in Tehran.
Iranian top-flight football was suspended after US and Israeli airstrikes began in late February, limiting players to practices and the occasional head-to-head match at a training camp.
In a sign of the importance of football in the country, team members also regularly attended pro-government night demonstrations in the city’s Valiasr Square. Midfielder Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi was on hand last Wednesday evening and told reporters that if he scored at the World Cup, he would dedicate his goal to the «martyrs» of the March rocket attack on a girls’ school in Minab that killed 156 civilians, including dozens of children.
After the bad news about Gholizadeh, Team Melli fans will be hoping that reports in the Iranian media about mediation talks between Iranian striker Sardar Azmoun and the authorities will bear fruit.
Azmoun, who has scored 57 goals in 91 caps since making his debut as a teenager in 2014, was left out of the squad for the friendlies against Costa Rica and Nigeria in March. According to local media reports, the 31-year-old had been deported for ‘disloyalty’ after posting a photo on social media of his meeting with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who rules Dubai.
Azmoun plays his club football for Shabab Al-Ahli in the emirate, which has been the target of Iranian missile and drone attacks during the conflict with the US and Israel.
President Gianni Infantino told the FIFA Congress last week that Iran would attend the World Cup and play its three group matches in the US as planned.
Team Melli will kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before taking on Belgium at the same stadium on June 21 and wrapping up their Group G matches against Egypt in Seattle five days later.
Published on May 5, 2026
