(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 19, 2018, Iran’s starting eleven line-up for a group picture ahead of their international friendly match against Uzbekistan at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. / AFP PHOTO
Iran became the first team Tuesday to arrive in Russia for the World Cup, a month-long celebration of football that kicks off in Moscow’s historic Luzhniki Stadium on June 14.
Iran’s national football team Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz and his footballers arrive at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on June 5, 2018, to take part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup football tournament in Russia. / AFP PHOTO
Playing in their fifth finals and ranked 36 by FIFA, Iran begin their campaign against Group B rivals Morocco on June 15 in Nizhny Novgorod.
They then travel to Kazan for a June 20 clash against former World Cup winners Spain, before concluding their group stage matches against Portugal on June 25.
The three-time Asian Cup winner easily qualified for their second successive World Cup, going unbeaten in 10 matches in their Asian group.
Iran lost 2:1 to Turkey in their last friendly on May 28, and have one last World Cup warmup against Lithuania on June 8.
Coached by Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz, who has also managed his national side, Iran are long-shots to make their first knockout stage of a World Cup.
(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 19, 2018, Iran’s starting eleven line-up for a group picture ahead of their international friendly match against Uzbekistan at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. / AFP PHOTO
European bookmakers put their odds of winning the whole thing at 500 to 1.
They will be based at the training facilities of the Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow, on the Russian capital’s southwestern outskirts.
Grouping 32 nations, the World Cup concludes in Moscow on July 15.
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