The place is Sardar Azmoun? Why Iran’s finest participant just isn’t at World Cup

Solely 10 gamers within the historical past of have appeared in additional worldwide video games than . He is not with the squad as they compete within the 2026 .

Iran’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei didn’t choose Azmoun – the Iranian ahead whose 57 targets in worldwide competitors rank third all-time amongst his countrymen – for the workforce.

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“I’m very unhappy,” Azmoun stated on , per Erfan Hoseiny. “I’ve many issues to say, which I will not say for now.”

In response to , Iranian media reported in March that Azmoun was “expelled from the nationwide workforce for a perceived act ​of disloyalty to the federal government.” The outlet reported that the central problem was an Instagram put up Azmoun shared in January that confirmed him shaking fingers with Sheikh Mohammed bin ​Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice chairman and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. The veteran ahead has since deleted the put up.

IRAN VS. NEW ZEALAND:

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups (RICARDO MAKYN, AFP through Getty Photos)

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups (RICARDO MAKYN, AFP through Getty Photos)

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 47: Jordan – first look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 46: Qatar – second look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 45: Cape Verde – first look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 44: New Zealand – third look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 42: Saudi Arabia – seventh look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 41: Panama – second look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 40 Czechia – tenth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 39: Tunisia – seventh look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 38: Uzbekistan – first look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 37 Haiti – second look

(Jerome Miron, Jerome Miron-Imagn Photos)

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 36 Iran – seventh look

(Majid Asgaripour, through REUTERS)

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 35: South Africa – fourth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 34: Bosnia and Herzegovina – second look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 33: Algeria – fifth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 32: Paraguay – ninth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 31: DR Congo – second look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 30: Scotland – ninth look

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No. 29: Egypt – fourth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 28: Sweden – twelfth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 27: Australia – seventh look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 26: Ghana – fifth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 25: South Korea – twelfth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 24: Austria – eighth look

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No. 23: Ivory Coast – fourth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 22: Turkey – fourth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 21: Canada – third look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 19: Morocco – seventh look

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No. 18: Switzerland – thirteenth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 17: Croatia – seventh look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 16: Colombia – seventh look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 15: Japan – eighth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 14: Norway – fourth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 13: United States of America – twelfth look

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No. 12: Mexico – 18th look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 11: Belgium – fifteenth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 10: Ecuador – fifth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 9: Senegal – fourth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 8: Portugal – ninth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 7: Brazil – twenty third look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 6: Germany – twenty first look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 5: Netherlands – twelfth look

(Piroschka Van De Wouw, REUTERS)

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 4: England – seventeenth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 2: France – seventeenth look

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Who’s in World Cup 2026? Rating all 48 groups

No. 1: Spain – seventeenth look

(Pablo Morano, REUTERS)

Azmoun, 31, has performed for Dubai-based membership Shabab Al Ahli within the UAE Professional League since signing a three-year contract in 2024.

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A in Could indicated that the UAE “has been secretly finishing up assaults on Iran” as america has focused Iran’s army capabilities in Operation Epic Fury. Reuters reported that Iran “has launched rocket and drone assaults on the UAE.”

“I’ve at all times performed for my nationwide workforce with satisfaction,” Azmoun wrote in an . “After we gained, I used to be pleased with myself and my team-mates. After we did not, I used to be extra upset than anybody else on the planet, similar to them. I like ⁠soccer, and I like the nice and deserving folks of my nation, ⁠Iran.”

After Azmoun’s expulsion from the workforce in March, he was left off the squad for 2 worldwide friendlies in opposition to and that month. In Could, Ghalenoei introduced Iran’s nationwide workforce’s preliminary squad, and Azmoun was nonetheless not part of it. The Islamic Republic Information Company (IRNA), a media group funded and managed by the federal government of Iran, reported on the time Azmoun was injured.

Azmoun advised Varzesh3, “I do know I might’ve been of assist at the moment.”

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Iran’s nationwide workforce arrived within the U.S. on Sunday, June 14. They’re set to play their first match of this 12 months’s World Cup in opposition to New Zealand on Monday, June 15.

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