PFDC - TEHRAN, Iran found a good replacement for Iraq, announcing a friendly match against Albania on May 27 in Istanbul.

Iran will hold a training camp in Turkey from May 21 and initially planned to face Iraq there, however, due to disagreement on the exact date of the game, the match was never finalized.

Instead, Albania, 84th in the latest FIFA ranking will step in, as the Albanian football federation (FSHF) confirmed on their homepage.

Albania, who face Iran's World Cup qualifying opposition Qatar in a friendly game in Madrid on May 22 before travelling to Turkey, fired coach Josip Kuze last December after a string of disappointing results and replaced him with Italian coach Gianni Di Biasi.

The former Udinese Calcio coach so far only helmed the team in a disappointing 1-2 loss in Georgia in February.

Iran a preparing for the final round of World Cup qualifiers which will start in June with Team Melli travelling to Uzbekistan before hosting Qatar.