Top News

The Iran national football team played a friendly match against Gambia as part of their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

BOLASPORT.COM – Teams participating in the 2026 World Cup have begun their warm-up matches, with both Iran and Iraq delivering strong performances.

As the quadrennial tournament approaches in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, the two Asian representatives took to the field for friendly games.

In their respective matches, Iran faced African side Gambia, while Iraq took on European team Andorra.

Iran secured a convincing 3-1 victory over Gambia in a match held in Antalya, Turkey.

Team Melli initially fell behind when Omar Colley opened the scoring for Gambia in the 42nd minute.

However, the Iranians bounced back in the second half with goals from Aria Yousefi (47’), Ramin Rezaeian (59’), and Mehdi Taremi (68’).

This result came as little surprise, given that Iran sits much higher in the FIFA rankings—21st compared to Gambia’s 116th.

Moreover, Gambia only fielded 15 players due to several absences.

Reports suggested that some Gambia players were unable to travel to Turkey due to visa issues, while others declined to play as the match was scheduled outside the official FIFA calendar.

Meanwhile, Iraq also recorded a win in their pre-World Cup friendly against Andorra.

Under the guidance of Graham Arnold, Iraq triumphed 1-0 over the team ranked 173rd by FIFA.

Playing at Montilivi Stadium in Spain, the Mesopotamian Lions clinched victory thanks to a goal from Hashim Ali Yousif in the 20th minute.

Arnold used the match to give all his players time on the pitch, including Zidane Iqbal, the hero in Iraq’s win over Indonesia.

Additionally, Persib Bandung defender Frans Putros also featured as a substitute.

Elsewhere, Bosnia & Herzegovina were unable to find their rhythm as they were held to a goalless draw by North Macedonia.

The Dragons, as they are known, had to settle for a 0-0 result, which was seen as fair given that both teams are separated by only two places in the FIFA rankings.

Furthermore, Bosnia & Herzegovina rested several of their key players, including Edin Dzeko, Sead Kolasinac, and Niola Vasilj.

In another match, South Africa also played a friendly against Central American side Nicaragua.

Despite being higher in the FIFA rankings—60th compared to Nicaragua’s 131st—Bafana Bafana were unable to secure a win.

Here are the complete results of the World Cup 2026 participants’ friendly matches played from Friday night to early Saturday (30 May 2026) WIB:

• Iran 3-1 Gambia (Aria Yousefi 47’, Ramin Rezaeian 59’, Mehdi Taremi 68’; Omar Colley 42’)
• Iraq 1-0 Andorra (Hashim Ali Yousif 20’)
• South Africa 0-0 Nicaragua
• Bosnia & Herzegovina 0-0 North Macedonia