MANILA, Philippines — Iran will be banking on Asia’s Best Opposite spiker Amin Esmaeilnezhad when it competes in the Philippines in Pool A of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at Mall of Asia Arena.

Iran, one of Alas Pilipinas’ opponents, will be parading a young but tall squad with an average age of 23.8 years and height of 6-foot-5.

All eyes will be on the 28-year-old Esmaeilnezhad for Team Melli, which is the second-highest world-ranked Asian team at No. 13 behind No.5 Japan.

Iran rose to the ninth place in the Volleyball Nations League last month from a 15th-place finish last year.

Besides Esmaeilnezhad,  Iran’s Italian coach Roberto Piazzacalling will be pinning his world title hopes on former Asian Volleyball Confederation Best Setter Javad Karimi and spikers Ali Hajipour, Morteza Sharifi, Amirhossein Esfandiar, and Ali Haghparast.

Setters Ali Ramazani and Arshia Behnezhad, outside hitters Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh, Ehsan Daneshdoust, and middle blockers Mohammad Valizadeh, Eisa Naseri, Yousef Kazemi, Nima Bateni, liberos Arman Salehi, and Mohammadreza Hazratpour are also part of Team Melli.

Alas Pilipinas faces Iran to wrap up its Pool A campaign on September 18 at 5:30 p.m.

The Philippines, which went on a training camp in Morocco, Romania, and Portugal, makes its debut against Tunisia on September 12, followed by a historic opening ceremony featuring the K-pop group BOYNEXTDOOR.

Iran, a three-time defending Asian Games champion, will train for a week in Doha, scrimmaging with Egypt and Qatar before flying to Manila in the first week of September. It is scheduled for friendlies against Slovenia and Germany on Sept. 9 and 10, respectively.

Tickets to all World Championship games at MOA Arena and  Smart Araneta Coliseum are available through the official website www.philippineswch2025.com.