Canada Soccer announced on Thursday morning that, as part of preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the men's national team will be playing an international friendly match against Iran on Sunday, June 5 at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, kicking off at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET). The match will be part of a three-game international window for Canada, coming just a few days before the two Concacaf Nations League group stage matches on June 9 against Curaçao (also at BC Place) and on June 13 against Honduras (away in San Pedro Sula). Iran currently sit 21st in the FIFA World Rankings (making them the highest-ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation), while the Canadians were most recently ranked 38th after the last World Cup Qualifying window. The Iranians, led by Croatian head coach Dragan Skočić, were recently drawn into Group B for the upcoming World Cup, where they'll take on another Concacaf side in the United States as well as England and the winner of the UEFA qualification playoff. Canada, of course, are in Group F alongside Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco. The Canadian men's national team has played Iran three times in its history, most recently a 1-0 win in Egypt back in 2001. Canada also lost 1-0 to Iran in 1997 and 1999, in Toronto and Edmonton respectively. Ticketing details for this friendly against Iran and the following Nations League match against Curaçao are available at Canada Soccer's website.

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