The draw ceremony of the international flagship soccer event took place at 7 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. GMT) in Doha, Qatar on Friday, April 1. Coaches and soccer players from all the teams were present for the event. Also, Ali Daie, the Iranian soccer legend, assisted with the draw ceremony.
In the draw ceremony held in Doha Friday night, the 'Persian Leopards' are drawn in Group B along with England, the US and the winners of Scotland vs Ukraine, who then face Wales in the final.
The event on Friday was different from its previous editions in that, for the first time in its 92-year long history, three of the 32 teams are placeholders; and that’s because the qualifying program was delayed and is still in progress. This means that 37 nations were present in the ceremony, five of which will be absent from the World Cup, which is the first one ever to be held in winter.
Iran is to play its first match against England on November 21, its second match against UEFA Path A on November 25, and its third one against the US on November 29.
Iranian national soccer team, aka Team Melli, topped their group in both the second and the third rounds of the AFC qualification contests with 18 and 25 points.
Due to a higher FIFA ranking, Iran did not need to take part in the first round of the contests.
Iran played with Iraq, Bahrain, Hong Kong, and Cambodia in the second round and with South Korea, the UAE, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon in the third round.
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