Mehdi Taremi is one name that wouldn’t ring a bell in the ears of casual football fans, but followers of the Portuguese League would be very familiar with the Iranian who joined Porto in 2020.

The striker hopes to replicate his Porto form with his national team Iran at the World Cup. Although there is a gulf in quality between the Iranian and Porto teams, the striker has gotten off to a good start with two goals against England in their opening game.

Current Form

Mehdi has scored 13 goals this season in 19 appearances for Porto in all competitions, with five coming in five Champions League appearances. With an additional seven assists, he has been Porto's most important and prolific player this season.

World Cup

This will be Mehdi's second appearance at the World Cup, with his first coming in 2018.  He appeared in only two of the three group-stage games and failed to score in either. He has come into this World Cup as an improved player with an even better form and has started the World Cup campaign with a bang scoring a brace against England.

Club Career

Mehdi has played most of his career in Asia, plying his trade in several Iranian teams before moving to Qatari club Al-Gharafa in 2018 from Persepolis, where he scored 45 goals in 87 games. At Al-Gharafa, he played only 30 games, scoring 13 goals before he moved to Portuguese club Rio Ave on a free transfer.  At Rio Ave, he spent one season winning the golden boot for the league with 18 league goals.

FC Porto immediately snatched up him, where he won two trophies - The League in 2021/2022 and the Portuguese Cup in 2022. He has scored 62 goals and provided 42 assists in 162 games for the club.