Tehran Times - Head of Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) Mehdi Taj says Team Melli will play a friendly match with Sierra Leone on March 17.
The African minnow sit in 97th place in FIFA rankings while Iran are the best Asian football team and 33rd in the world.
The match will take place in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, Taj said.
Taj said Sierra Leone replaced Libya who withdrew from the friendly after their foreign-based players were not allowed to join their national team.
“Iran will face Tunisia on March 23 in Tunisia and then meet Algeria in our training camp in Austria. Team Melli have been scheduled to play Syria and Uzbekistan on May 11 and 18 respectively in Tehran,” Taj said.
“Iran will hold a training camp in Turkey and play Turkey and Greece on May 28 and June 2. Our last warm-up match will be against Lithuania in Russia on June 8,” he stated.
Carlos Queiroz’s men prepare for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where they have been drawn with Spain, Morocco and Portugal in Group B.
Iran will open the campaign with a match against Morocco at Saint Petersburg on June 15.
Team Melli, meanwhile, face Spain in Kazan on 20 June before meeting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Saransk five days later.