Iran hopes to repeat history at the World Cup in Qatar this November, 24 years after overcoming a fractious build-up to win a memorable victory over the United States – the country’s decades-long geopolitical rival – in France.
The Iranian side’s preparations have been thrown into disarray by a divided squad and maneuvering over its leadership as the teams prepare to clash again, and their governments wrangle over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear pact.
The re-election of former President Mehdi Taj to the top job at the Iranian football federation on Tuesday has raised expectations that Dragan Skocic will be fired as a coach with less than three months until the World Cup kicks off.
According to Iranian sports media, ex-Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz, who was hired by Taj to lead Iran during their World Cup appearances in Brazil in 2014 and Russia four years ago, is a strong candidate to replace Skocic.
Former national team players Amir Ghalenoei and Javad Nekounam have also been mentioned by those in favor of an Iranian coach, particularly politicians eager to see a local coach take on the US, while the squad is split between those who support Skocic and those who want him out, according to media reports.
Skocic’s future has been uncertain since he was briefly fired last month, despite leading Iran through Asia’s qualifiers for the country’s sixth World Cup, losing only twice in 18 games.
Skocic did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but he stated in a July Instagram post that he had overcome insults and pressure from within Iranian football to qualify the country for the World Cup finals.
The saga is reminiscent of the lead-up to the World Cup in France in 1998, when the Iranians went through three coaches in the six months leading up to their highly anticipated group stage match against the Americans.
Brazilian Badu Vieira, who had qualified Brazil for the World Cup for the first time in two decades, was replaced by veteran Croatian Tomislav Ivic shortly after the draw in Marseille.
But Ivic, who has won league titles in Yugoslavia, France, Holland, Belgium, and Portugal, was fired just weeks before the team’s departure for France and was replaced by Iranian Jalal Talebi.
Talebi, whose coaching experience includes stints in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, lacked Ivic’s gravitas and credentials, but he led the team to a 2-1 victory over the US team, which was celebrated in Tehran.
Despite that success, an Iranian team that included Ali Daei, Khodadad Azizi, and Karim Bagheri – players who are still revered in Iran and throughout Asia – and had high pre-tournament expectations exited at the end of the group stage.
“The game against the US was really important because it was Iranian football’s first World Cup win,” Mohammad Khakpour, who started for Iran in Lyon, said.
“However, our officials made a mistake after that game, because the tournament was over for them.” They were completely focused on the tournament and didn’t think about anything else.
“That team had the chance to advance to the second round and make even more history.”
Iran’s current crop, led by Europe-based strike duo Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun, is also thought to be capable of pulling off an upset in a group that also includes England and Wales.
In five previous World Cup appearances, Iran has never advanced to the knockout rounds, but the turmoil behind the scenes poses a growing threat to the country’s hopes of building on a strong showing in Russia in 2018.
