London, May 5: Iran winger Ali Gholizadeh will miss the World Cup in north America after suffering a serious knee injury playing in the Polish league, his club Lech Poznan said late Monday.
The 30-year-old Gholizadeh played in all three of Iran’s games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and in both of the squad’s warmup games in March in Turkey.
Iran is preparing to go to the United States in June to start the World Cup in a group with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt. The first two games are in Inglewood, California and the third in Seattle.
If Iran finishes second in the group, the team could face the U.S. in the round of 32.
Gholizadeh tore an ACL on Saturday in league leader Lech’s 1-0 win at Motor Lublin.
On Monday he was named the league’s player of the month for April.
“In the coming days, Gholizadeh will have surgery followed by several months of rehabilitation,” Lech said in a statement.
Gholizadeh is among a handful of Iran internationals with clubs in Europe who have continued to play games since the U.S. and Israel started military attacks on Feb. 28. The Iranian top-tier league shut down during the war and will not resume before the World Cup.
Iran’s home-based players are training in Tehran and national media has reported they are due to travel to Turkey next week for an extended pre-tournament camp.
FIFA rules require the Iran delegation to arrive at a World Cup training base – set for Tucson, Arizona – at least five days before the team’s opening game, which is on June 15.
FIFA has invited Iranian soccer officials, including national federation president Mehdi Taj, to meet in Zurich in the next two weeks to discuss the team’s World Cup plans. (AP)
