Iran coach Branko Ivankovic fears a lack of preparation time will hamper his side's attempts to qualify from the group stage of the World Cup finals.

Ivankovic sees little to fear in Group D opponents Mexico, Portugal and Angola, but does not yet know what sort of shape his squad is in.

The Football Federation of Iran has struggled to arrange pre-tournament friendlies and the national team will only play twice, against Croatia on May 28 and Bosnia-Herzegovina on May 31, before their opener against Mexico on June 11.

The lack of games has left Ivankovic with a major headache, as has the fact his European-based players, including Ali Karimi of Bayern Munich and Hamburg's Mehdi Mahdavikia, are not available to link-up with the squad until May 22.

"We started training five days ago with players who are in the Iranian league," he told Reuters.

"We have problems getting the whole team together. The Bundesliga finishes on May 15 and then, we have to give those players seven days' rest according to FIFA rules.

"We have a strong group of players but our preparations are not enough. I don't think there's ever enough time to prepare for any national coach. But we cannot do anything about it."