Coach Branko Ivankovic is looking for a win over Angola today in what looks like being his final match in charge of the Iran national team after four years at the helm.

The Croatian is expected to officially announce his intention to stand down once the Iranians complete their final World Cup group match after negotiating an early end to his contract - which is due to finish on October 1 - with federation officials on Tuesday evening.

But before drawing down the curtain on a spell that saw him lead Iran to the World Cup finals for only the third time in their history, as well as winning gold at the Asian Games two years earlier, Ivankovic wants his team to leave Germany with a win under their belt.

"The future for a coach is very hard, you never know what is going to happen in the future with coaches," he said.

"My contract finishes after the World Cup and I will see what happens. I have to solve some things in Iran and officially my contract is finished on October 1. But I will solve some details about these matters.

"We have been together four years and if we win against Angola and leave the World Cup with a win I will be satisfied."

Iran's hopes of making it into the knockout round were shattered by defeats against both Portugal and Mexico in the opening two games but Ivankovic is convinced football in the Islamic Republic is progressing well.

"I have spent four excellent years in Iran and we have shown that there is not such a big difference between us and the other teams, just some details and some quality," he said.

"But with hard work and a long-term plan we can be much closer with this team than now. This World Cup has been a fantastic experience for these young players."

The Iranians face an Angola team that can still go through to the last 16 with a win, provided Mexico lose to Portugal in the day's other Group D game.

However, scoring goals has been a problem for the African side, who picked up their first-ever World Cup point when they drew with Mexico in the second round of matches.

"Each team has a 50 per cent chance," said coach Luis Oliveiras Gonclaves. "We are making fewer mistakes and we shall play for a win.

"Both teams have a chance and we want to score a goal because we don't want to go home without a goal."