Forward Shahriyar Moghanlou called up to Iran's preliminary World Cup squad

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shahriar-moghanlou/U3mNRo2j/"]Moghanlou[/a], who scored ‌eight goals in the United Arab Emirates ‌Pro League season that concluded last weekend, joins Kalba ‌clubmate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ghoddos-saman/QkJrONx1/"]Saman Ghoddos[/a] in the squad, which coach ‌Amir Ghalenoei needs to reduce to 26 players by June 1.[/p][p]His call-up might offer hope to excluded striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/azmoun-sardar/6XEsobq8/"]‌Sardar Azmoun[/a], who also plays in the ⁠UAE Pro League, ‌that his World Cup dream might not be over.[/p][p]Midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cheshmi-roozbeh/SYB2LNG7/"]Rouzbeh ​Cheshmi[/a], who suffered a hamstring injury in training this week, will leave the Antalya ​camp for treatment, the team said.[/p][p]The team, who will play [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/gambia/hADVg0uE/"]Gambia[/a] in Antalya [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/gambia-hADVg0uE/iran-xrRx85iA/?mid=EuFDrj8L"]on May 29[/a], ⁠also said a ​second friendly against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mali/jVn5lThB/"]Mali[/a] had been arranged for June 4, the day before the squad is scheduled to leave for the United States.[/p][p]The players spent much ‌of Thursday in Turkey's capital Ankara applying for visas for entry to Canada and the U.S.[/p][embed guid="47130cb6-23e8-4522-9ab3-6224b61756ff" url="https://x.com/RyanRozbiani/status/2055896829384876519" social-type="twitter" /][p]All three of Iran's World Cup group games are in the United States, starting in Los Angeles against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/rLctHkpU/"]New Zealand[/a] on June 15, but they may need to go to Canada if they progress to the knockout rounds.[/p][p]Iranian FA (FFIRI) President Mehdi Taj ‌was refused entry to Canada for last month's ​FIFA Congress because of his links to ‌the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).[/p][p]Both the US and Canada, who are co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico, classify the IRGC as a "terrorist entity" and have made it clear they will not ⁠admit people with links ⁠to the elite ‌military force.[/p]