TEHRAN - Iranian national football team’s Croatian head coach Dragan Skocic has been sacked over his weak performance ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the officials are weighing the candidates to replace him, according to IRNA.
The Islamic Republic News Agency on Monday reported Iran’s football federation technical team dismissed the 53-year-old and a replacement will be appointed as soon as possible.
The move comes after Skocic, who took over from Marc Wilmots as coach in February 2020, secured the Iranians a spot at the World Cup by topping their qualification group ahead of South Korea.
Iran’s sport ministry and football federation officials are reviewing the candidates for the post and will announce the replacement within days, IRNA reported.
Amir Ghalenoei, who currently manages Iran’s Gol Gohar Sirjan, and Javad Nekounam, Foolad FC’s coach are among the top domestic contenders.
Former head coach of the Iranian national football team Ali Daei has reportedly turned down the offer to replace Skocic.
The Croatian won 15 of his 18 games in charge but has lost two of his last three matches, including a 2-1 friendly defeat by Algeria in Qatar last month.
Iran will be appearing at the World Cup for the sixth time in the country’s history and on a third consecutive occasion.
They have been drawn in Group B and will kick off their campaign against England on Nov. 21 before taking on Wales and the United States.