TEHRAN – Iran national football team head coach Amir Ghalenoei says that they are cautious of North Korea's "threat" in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Team Melli are scheduled to meet North Korea on Thursday at the neutral venue of Lao National Stadium KM16 in Vientiane.

Iran, on 10 points, lead the standings ahead of Uzbekistan on goal difference with both sitting six points clear of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar after just four matches.

“We are well aware that we have a tough game. The Korean team are a strong team in defense. They also work very well and quickly in attacks. In this game, we have to go to the field with more focus and responsibility than the previous matches. We got a good result in the previous two games, but those two matches went down in history,” Ghalenoei said.

The Team Melli coach says that the match against North Korea and Kyrgyzstan are “the most important" matches of the national team.

“We must play with high concentration from the first minute to the 90th minute. We have analyzed North Korea and we know that how strong they are. Even in the match against Uzbekistan, where they lost, or in the match against the UAE, where they shared the spoils, they could have won the match, so we must face this opponent with full attention,” he added.

Asked his is there any challenge ahead of Iran football team against the Korean team, Ghalenoei said, “Fortunately, we don't have any special challenge ahead of us and the players are ready to play. I have to thank the Iran Football Federation, because we traveled to Laos by direct flight, otherwise it would endure a 30-hour trip.

 However, the truth of the game is when the referee blows the whistle to start the game, and I hope that the players of the national team will start and finish their work in this match with the same concentration they had in the game against Qatar and use the opportunities effectively.

In response to the question that the history of matches between two teams, North Korea have always been a difficult opponent, Ghalenoei said, “Football in Asia has progressed and you can see this in the World Cup qualifiers. North Korea have also shown that they are a good team with a plan, and their past results prove this. The matches against North Korea and Kyrgyzstan are our most important matches and we want to do our best to secure our berth in the World Cup.”.