Sports Mole previews Thursday’s World Cup Qualifying – Asia clash between Iran and Hong Kong, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Iran will begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign when they face Hong Kong in Thursday’s meeting in Tehran.
Team Melli are looking to reach a fourth consecutive finals, while the visitors will have to pull off a number of surprise results if they are to qualify for the first time.
Match preview
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After making their first World Cup appearance in 1978, Iran have gone on to reach the finals on five more occasions, including each of the last three tournaments.
In their most recent appearance at football’s biggest tournament, Iran lost to England and the United States either side of a 2-0 win over Wales.
The sole victory proved to be insufficient, as Iran finished in third place, prolonging their wait for a first-ever knockout round appearance at a World Cup.
They hope to change that statistic in 2026, but first, they must successfully navigate their way through qualifying, beginning in the second-round stage with a group that contains Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Hong Kong.
Due to their recent success in World Cup qualifying, Iran will be overwhelming favourites to finish top of Group E, especially as they are yet to lose under Amir Ghalenoei, who has won seven and drawn one of his eight games in charge.
While Iran are just beginning their road to the 2026 World Cup, Hong Kong’s qualifying campaign began in August with a first-round playoff tie against Bhutan.
They produced a dominant display in the first leg to ease to a 4-0 victory, with all four goals taking place in a 25-minute period thanks to a Michael Udebuluzor brace, a Shinichi Chan strike and an own goal.
Bhutan threatened to pull off a comeback in the return leg when they moved into a 2-0 lead by the 47th minute, but Jorn Andersen‘s side held firm for the remainder of the contest to clinch a 4-2 aggregate victory.
While Hong Kong (150) are ranked just nine places below Turkmenistan (141), they will have their work cut out to finish in the top two with Uzbekistan in 73rd spot and Iran in 21st place in the FIFA World Rankings.
Having lost five of their last six away games (D1) in World Cup qualifying, the visitors will have to produce an almighty performance to trouble Iran on Thursday.
Iran form (all competitions):
Hong Kong World Cup Qualifying – Asia form:
Hong Kong form (all competitions):
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Team News
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Experienced defender Ehsan Hajsafi will captain his country, and he could be joined in the back four by Ramin Rezaeian, Shoja Khalilzadeh and Hossein Kanaani.
Porto forward Mehdi Taremi is expected to start, and he will be looking to add to the 39 goals he has scored for his country.
Having found the net 47 times in 73 appearances, Serdar Azmoun is the only current member of the Iranian squad to have registered more international goals than Taremi, and he is set to feature alongside the 31-year-old in Thursday’s contest.
Udebuluzor, who plays for German club Ingolstadt, is the only current member of the Hong Kong squad to play his domestic football outside of Asia.
Having scored two goals in his three international appearances, Udebuluzor is expected to lead the line for the visitors, while the width could be provided by Law Tsz Chun and Matt Orr.
At the opposite end of the pitch, experienced goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai is expected to get the nod over Tse Ka Wing.
Iran possible starting lineup:
Beiranvand; Rezaeian, Khalilzadeh, Kanaani, Hajsafi; Ezatolahi; Jahanbakhsh, Ghoddos, Mohebi; Azmoun, Taremi
Hong Kong possible starting lineup:
Yapp; Yue, Nunez, Li, S. Chan; Law, S.K Chan, Tan, Wong, Orr; Udebuluzor
We say: Iran 2-0 Hong Kong
Iran have won nine of their last nine home World Cup qualifiers, and we think they will continue that impressive record with a comfortable victory over a nation sitting 129 places below them in the FIFA World Rankings.
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