Preview: Iran vs. Nicaragua - prediction, team news, lineups

This is Carlos Quieroz's side's last scheduled warm-up friendly ahead of facing England in their opening World Cup match on November 21.

Match preview

Indeed, after qualifying for their third successive World Cup by finishing ahead of South Korea to top Group A in AFC qualifying, Iran have high hopes of advancing beyond the group stage for the first time in their history.

This will be Team Melli's sixth World Cup in total, yet their win against Morocco in Russia in 2018 was only their second ever win on the grandest stage of them all, having previously beaten USA in 1998.

They will face one of their fiercest rivals once again in Qatar, of course, having also been drawn alongside England and Wales in Group B. With all four nations heading to the Arabian Peninsula inside the top 20 of FIFA's World Rankings, it is set to be one of the most competitive groups at the tournament.

Having beaten Uruguay and drawn against Senegal - two nations who will also appear at the World Cup - in September, Quieroz will hope to end his side's preparation in style with a comfortable win against Nicaragua on Thursday.

Nicaragua, meanwhile, have never qualified for the World Cup in their entire history, having failed to even reach the final round of qualifying in CONCACAF's section in preparation for Qatar.

La Azul y Blanco were defeated 1-0 by Haiti in a crucial pre-qualifying match last June, which denied them the opportunity to face Canada in a two-legged play-off to reach the final round.

However, Marco Antonio Figueroa - who replaced Juan Vita as head coach in March earlier this year - has maintained an unbeaten record in competitive matches to take Nicaragua to the top of Group C in League B of CONCACAF's Nations League, although they were defeated by Suriname and Ghana in friendlies in September.

As such, the former Chile international will be demanding a reaction from his players in Iran on Thursday, even if he will be fully aware that another loss is the most likely outcome against a team with more reason to be motivated in front of their home fans.

Iran International Friendlies form:

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W

D

Iran form (all competitions):

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L

W

L

W

D

Nicaragua International Friendlies form:

W

D

L

L

Nicaragua form (all competitions):

W

D

W

W

L

L

Team News

With most of his key players still involved with their clubs until the domestic calendar officially breaks for the World Cup on Sunday, Quieroz is set to pick a team of exclusively Iran and Qatar-based players on Thursday.

However, 11 of the 21-man squad are in double figures in terms of appearances for their country, so the former Real Madrid boss will be confident that his side have more than enough to beat their opponents in Tehran.

Nicaragua, meanwhile, have picked a far younger squad, with only five players possessing 10 or more caps for their country.

The likes of Jeffrey Chavez, Mario Davila, Jeremy Cuarezma and Widman Talavera could all make their maiden appearance for the Central American nation.

Iran possible starting lineup:

Beiranvand; Rezaeian, Pouraliganji, Khalilzadeh, Jalali; Amiri, Ebrahimi, Mehdipour, Sarlak, Torabi; Mohebi

Nicaragua possible starting lineup:

FLopez; Tellez, Gutierrez, Fletes, Acevedo; Medina, Coronel; Galeano, Lopez; Flores, Treminio

We say: Iran 2-0 Nicaragua

Even without some of their key players - such as Porto's Mehdi Taremi - at their disposal, we expect Iran to have far too much ability and motivation for their opponents on Thursday.

Nicaragua are 122 places lower than Iran in FIFA's World Rankings, suggesting that they should be content with a narrow defeat in Tehran.

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