Last week, the FFIRI's Technical Committee dismissed the 53-year-old just four months before the World Cup, leading to the football community in Iran to criticise the organisation, saying it was not the right time to change manager.

Following a meeting between the Technical Committee and the Board of Directors, Skočić was reinstated.

He took over from Marc Wilmots as the national team manager in February 2020 and qualified for the World Cup top of Group A in the third round in front of South Korea.

During qualifying, he lost just one match - a 2-0 defeat away to South Korea - and earned 15 wins from 18.

The other matches saw Iran draw 1-1 with South Korea in qualifying at home, followed by a 2-1 defeat to Algeria in a friendly last month.

Iran are set to compete at their third consecutive World Cup and the sixth in their history.

They have never made it out of the group stages, but came closest in 2018, finishing with four points in third place in Group B - a point behind Spain and Portugal, who qualified.

This year, they are to play England, Wales and and the United States in group B.