Sardar Azmoun is Iran's third top scorer in history with a successful club career behind him but is set to miss out on the 2026 World Cup in an exclusion shadowed by political controversy.Azmoun, 31, is not part of the Iranian squad that has been preparing in Turkey for the World Cup and only a sensational last minute recall would see him join his teammates.The tournament -- co-hosted by the United States where Iran will play its group matches -- will put the Team Melli under intense scrutiny as a shaky ceasefire holds after five weeks of war between Iran and the US and Israel.The striker, who currently plays for a club in the UAE, a US ally, faced a backlash in media in the Islamic republic in March during the US-Israeli war after a photograph showed him alongside the ruler of Dubai."At a historical turning point, Sardar Azmoun stood on the wrong side," said the pro-government Fars news agency, accusing the player, a racehorse breeder in his spare time, of "betting on the losing horse" in a "gamble that meant missing the World Cup". An image of Azmoun meeting Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum is still pinned to the top of his Instagram account which has 5.8 million followers.- 'Not purely on footballing grounds' -The controversy followed similar uproar in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after Azmoun published messages on social media appearing to support anti-government protests, prompting calls from hardliners although he eventually played.In a lengthy Instagram post earlier this month, Azmoun appeared to accept his exclusion from the side, wishing his teammates success and hoping they would "bring happiness to the hearts of the Iranian people".