Iran coach praises Mehdi Taremi after World Cup qualification

After Mehdi Taremi scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan on Tuesday that guaranteed qualification for the 2026 World Cup championships, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei commended his influence.

Since joining the Italian side from Porto on a free transfer last summer, Taremi has had an uneven season due to injury; nonetheless, his two goals made all the difference for the national team in Tehran.

“A great player must help both technically and physically,” Ghalenoei declared.

“Taremi is one of them; he played and was with the team and for the people even though he plays for a fantastic team and is not in excellent health and might have missed the season.

“He became the best player on the field and I am happy that, from the Iranian national team, he is the best player on most games.”

Taremi’s first goal at the Azadi Stadium occurred in the 52nd minute when he smacked in a volleyball to offset Hojimat Erkinov’s 16th minute visitor opener.

And when Abbosbek Fayzullaev restored Uzbekistan’s lead a minute later, Mehdi Taremi converted from close range seven minutes from time to guarantee the point Iran needed to qualify for the finals in North America.

After missing Iran’s 2-0 victory against the United Arab Emirates on Thursday due to illness while groin troubles have affected his season at Milan, Taremi’s goal-scoring display—which took his tally to 54 in 92 internationals—followed.

Having only started 14 times since his move to Italy following five seasons as a prolific scorer in Portugal for Rio Ave and Porto, his performance on Tuesday helped Iran confirm a fourth consecutive World Cup participation.

Ghalenoei has turned his attention to guiding the Iranians into the knockout phases of the enlarged World Cup for the first time, now certain of their place.

Iran has never progressed past the group round in their past six visits; they only won three of their eighteen finals games.

“Qualification was not an easy job,” Ghalenoei remarked. “Look at the capacities of other teams and you will see that the players were able to achieve this qualification through challenging conditions.”