PARIS — Iran winger Ali Gholizadeh will miss the 2026 World Cup after suffering a serious knee injury playing in the Polish league, his club Lech Poznan announced.
The 30-year-old Gholizadeh played in all three of Iran´s games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and in both of the squad´s warm-up games in March, AP reported.
Iran is preparing to go to the United States in June to start the World Cup in a group with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
The first two games are in Inglewood, California and the third in Seattle. If Iran finishes second in the group, the team could face the US in the round of 32.
Gholizadeh tore an ACL in league leader Lech´s 1-0 win at Motor Lublin. On Monday he was named the league´s player of the month for April.
“In the coming days, Gholizadeh will have surgery followed by several months of rehabilitation,” Lech said in a statement.
