After kicking off their World Cup campaign with a draw against the USA, Cymru return to the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium to take on Iran.
A point in the opening game does leave Wales in a good position to get out of the group, but a win against Iran is a must. But what do we need to know about our opponents?
Last time out
Let’s start off with their first game of the tournament, a 6-2 defeat to England. While many suspected England would win this bout, the actual result itself may have surprised a few people.
First-half goals from Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Raheem Sterling put the game beyond the reach of their opponents before Saka added his second along with one each for Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish.
Iran’s Mehdi Taremi did score two in the second half, but the damage was already done.
However, there are factors that we need to address. There is an awful situation unfolding in Iran, after the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini.
As a result, protests have been taking place across Iran in opposition to the government regime. Before the game on Monday, the Iranian players refused to sing their national anthem, a sign of support for the protestors. It was incredibly moving, and you could see the emotion etched over the players’ faces.
There is a sense that this is more than just a football tournament for Iran, and they will again be wanting to bring happiness to the protestors, in what is an incredibly difficult time for the people of Iran.
Qualification campaign
Looking at Iran’s qualification campaign, they won eight of their ten games, and these were against the UAE, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
They then drew one and lost one, both against South Korea. Yet, the Iranians finished above the Tigers of Asia to qualify for the World Cup in first place in their group.
In their friendlies in the build-up to the tournament, there were some impressive results that would’ve raised the eyebrow of a few Wales fans, including a win over Uruguay and a draw against Senegal.
On the other hand, there were also defeats to Algeria and Tunisia, teams, looking at the rankings at least, Wales are better than.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Manager
Carlos Queiroz is the Iranian manager, a name familiar to fans in Wales when he was assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Queiroz is in his second stint in charge of Iran, having taken charge for eight years previously between 2011 and 2019.
After their failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, the Portuguese man guided Iran to back-to-back World Cups in 2014 and 2018.
In Brazil, Iran finished bottom of their group, which contained Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Nigeria.
Out in Russia, they finished third in a group containing Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, even picking up a point against Portugal.
Queiroz is known for his defensive football and so Wales could be in for a long game on Friday.
Embed from Getty ImagesOnes to watch
The aforementioned Taremi is certainly one of Iran’s danger men. Since joining Porto in 2020, Taremi has been one of Europe’s most prolific strikers.
His Champions League exploits have resulted in murmurs of the striker possibly moving to a bigger club.
Having scored 42 times in 79 matches for Porto, he will certainly be handful for the likes of Joe Rodon and Chris Mepham.
If the Wales defenders can deal with him, their next task will be handling Taremi’s strike partner, Sardar Azmoun.
Azmoun has been long touted as one of Iran’s best players for a long time, and his goalscoring record for the national team highlights that, 41 goals in 66 appearances.
He didn’t start against England as he was recovering from a knock, but all signs point to him being fine to start against Cymru.
Former Brighton winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who now plies his trade at Feyenoord, is always capable of producing something out of nothing, in an Iran team that has players who will cause Wales headaches.
What to expect?
From a Welsh perspective, this game should be perhaps a slightly easier matchup than the one against the US, if you look at the rankings at least (Wales placed 19th, Iran placed 20th).
They do have players that can cause us problems, but their defence showed their fragilities against England, and in a team that is meant to be defensively sound, that will encourage us.
As long as Wales’ game plan works and they can get a goal early on, we should be confident of victory, but at times, it will be a tough game to watch.
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