Russia, Iran to play friendly football match in Kazan on September 29

Russia, Iran to play friendly football match in Kazan on September 29 The match will be played at the over 45,000-seat capacity AK Bars Arena in KazanMOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. The national football teams of Russia and Iran will play a friendly match on September 29 in Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, the Russian Football Union’s (RFU) press office reported on Friday. The match will be played at the over 45,000-seat capacity AK Bars Arena in Kazan. Information about the start of the game and ticket sales will be disclosed later, the RFU press office added. Sports Minister of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov told TASS that the republic is ready to create a great experience for both fans and players. "Some time ago, we had the idea to hold another match between national teams in Kazan. We're grateful to our RFU colleagues for their support of our initiative to approve Kazan as the venue for the match between Russia and Iran," Leonov stated. "It is a great honor and opportunity for Tatarstan and Kazan in particular to host the [country’s] national team on our field again," he continued. "We are ready to organize a match at the highest level as we recently hosted the Russian Super Cup [matches] twice and we have ample experience in hosting World Cup matches, so we have the opportunity to create all the conditions for a comfortable stay for teams and fans." The sports minister of Tatarstan also pointed out that football was extremely popular in the country’s republic being popular both among adults and children. "I am sure that the match will spark great interest among fans and will become a real football celebration. We invite all fans from Tatarstan and other regions of Russia to come out for the game," he added. Russia and Iran have played against each other four times before - all exhibition matches. In their most recent encounter in Russia’s Volgograd in October 2025 the hosts defeated the Iranian team 2-1. The other three matches ended in two draws and one Iranian win. Iran is currently 22nd in the FIFA World Rankings while Russia stands at 35th. Earlier this summer, the Iranian national football team played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but failed to clear the group stage of the championship. Russia’s football ban The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments. In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments. Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions. 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