The Swedish-born Iranian midfielder has made up his mind to wear the jersey of Iran’s national football team despite being invited to play for Sweden.

Saman Ghoddos was born on 6 September, 1993 in Malmö, Sweden.

He is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, striker, or winger for Premier League club Brentford and the Iran national team.

Born in Sweden to Iranian parents, he initially played for the Sweden national team, before switching allegiance to Iran in 2017.

On 25 August 2017, Ghoddos revealed in an interview that he acquired his Iranian passport from the embassy.

The following day, 26 August 2017, he announced on his Instagram page that he would be joining Iran for their 2018 World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Syria.

Ghoddos was called up for the first time for the Iran senior team training camps on 27 August 2017 by coach Carlos Queiroz for Iran's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Korea and Syria.

After Ghoddos could not make his debut for Iran due to administrative issues with FIFA, he was called into Sweden's World Cup qualification squad on 27 September for matches against Luxembourg and Netherlands.

However, on 29 September, the Swedish Football Association released a statement on their website stating Ghoddos had rejected the offer, choosing to play for Iran instead.

He made his debut for Iran in a 2–0 friendly victory against Togo on 5 October 2017. On 9 November, he scored his first goal for Iran in a friendly match against Panama.



Ghoddos featured in Team Melli's 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia campaign against Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.

Ghoddos made his World Cup debut against Morocco on 15 June 2018, winning a free kick that led to a goal for Iran’s first World Cup win in twenty years.

He was used as a substitute in all three World Cup matches against Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.



Iran’s Saman Ghoddos goal against Yemen was nominated for winning the best goal of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup group stage.

In the 36 matches played in the group stages of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, a total of 96 goals were scored -2.67 per match- and some of them were truly memorable strikes.

He came through the youth system of Malmo, and featured in Graham Potter's Ostersunds side, before joining the Bees in 2020.



Once, Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger admitted he was a fan of Iranian Ostersund striker Saman Ghoddos.

"The most impressive player in the first game was Ghoddos, who was a marvelous player technically, tactically," enthused Wenger.



The FIFA World Cup will take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022.

The ‘Persian Leopards’ in Group B of the tournament will face England, the US, and Wales.

Iran football team became the 14th team to book their place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Moreover, the ‘Persian Leopards’ became the first Asian team to book their place in a major competition.

Iran, No. 21 in the current FIFA world rankings, will kick off the World Cup campaign in Qatar against fifth-ranked England on November 21.

"Iran in the World Cup is always a big story", revealed the Middle East and North African football journalist Uri Levy. "They had a good qualifying campaign. Under Dragan Skocic, they showed that they have the quality. It is the talent upfront that is making the difference for them. Bayer Leverkusen’s Sardar Azmoun and Porto’s Mehdi Taremi are prominent names in the squad.”

 

 

By MEHR