Coach - Carlos Queiroz: One of those familiar faces that will surprise a few people when he pops up on the Iran bench. A vastly experienced man at the helm, this is a third consecutive World Cup for Queiroz having led Portugal to the 2010 finals before back-to-back qualifications for Iran.
The former Manchester United coach and Real Madrid manager also qualified for the 2002 World Cup with South Africa but quit before the tournament after a fall out with the South African FA.
Legend - Ali Daei: The prolific striker is the name in Iranian football after his long and distinguished goalscoring career. The first Asian to score in the Champions League, Daei is an Iranian football institution.
Daei finally got his World Cup chance in 2006, 13 years after international debut and he was way past his best. In fact, many critics thought he should not have played but it would’ve been a brave coach not to select the legend for his team.
Star man - Sardar Azmoun: The 23-year-old prolific striker has been banging in the goals in startling fashion for Iran, having notched 23 in 21 internationals up until March this year. The Rubin Kazan man will feel at home in their second group game against Spain as it is being held in his club side’s stadium.
Did you know? Iran striker Ali Daei is the most prolific goalscorer in international football history. He’s bagged 109 times for his country, a full 25 more than Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas. His nearest active rival is Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s on 81.
Fun Fact: Russia 2018 marks the first time that Iran have ever qualified for back-to-back World Cups in their history - and they did it early as the third team to qualify for this summer's event, only beaten by Brazil with hosts Russia automatically included.
Qualifying: Unbeaten in their AFC Third Round Qualifying group, winning six and drawing four, they built their success around stout defence including their world record of 12 clean sheets in a row stretching back to a 6-0 round two victory over Guam. Overall they conceded just two goals in ten third-round matches.
Group B fixtures: Morocco (4pm, June 15, St Petersburg), Spain (7pm, June 20, Kazan), Portugal (7pm, June 25, Saransk)
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Rashid Mazaheri (Zob Ahan), Amir Abedzadeh (Maritimo).
Defenders: Majid Hosseini (Esteghlal), Ramin Rezaeian (Ostende), Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh (Padideh), Morteza Pouraliganji (Alsaad), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Milad Mohammadi (Akhmat Grozny), Roozbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal).
Midfielders: Saeid Ezatolahi (Amkar Perm), Masoud Shojaei (AEK Athens), Mehdi Torabi (Saipa), Omid Ebrahimi (Esteghlal), Ehsan Haji Safi (Olympiacos), Karim Ansarifard (Olympiacos), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis).
Forwards: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmaar), Mehdi Taremi (Al Gharafa), Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan), Reza Ghoochannejhad (Heerenveen), Saman Ghoddos (Ostersunds), Ashkan Dejagah (Nottingham Forest).
It's a second successive World Cup appearance for Iran as Carlos Queiroz worked his magic again with a superb qualifying campaign that saw them set an international record with 12-straight clean sheets.