Iran's hopes for World Cup surprise threatened by infighting

HONG KONG : Iran hopes history will repeat itself at this November's World Cup in Qatar, 24 years after overcoming a fractious build-up to score a memorable triumph over the United States - the country's decades-long geopolitical rival - in France.

As the teams prepare to clash again, and their governments wrangle over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear pact, the Iranian side's preparations have been thrown into turmoil by a divided squad and manoeuvring over its leadership.

The re-election on Tuesday of former President Mehdi Taj to the top job at the Iranian football federation has heightened expectations that Dragan Skocic will lose his job at the helm of the team with less than three months remaining to the World Cup kick-off.

Ex-Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz, who was hired by Taj to lead Iran during their World Cup appearances in Brazil in 2014 and in Russia four years ago, is considered a strong candidate to replace Skocic, Iranian sports media have reported.

Amir Ghalenoei and Javad Nekounam, former national team players, have also been touted by those favouring an Iranian coach - especially politicians eager to see a local coach tackle the U.S. - while the squad is split between those who support Skocic and players who want him out, according to media reports.

Skocic has faced an uncertain future after he was briefly ousted last month, despite steering Iran through Asia's qualifiers to the country's sixth World Cup, losing just twice in 18 games in charge.

Skocic did not immediately reply to a request for comment, but he said in an Instagram post in July that he had withstood insults and pressure from within Iranian football to prove himself capable of qualifying the country for the World Cup finals.

The saga carries