The Tehran side has played Al Rayyan six times in the past and has come out on top on four occasions, with the last time being a 2-1 victory in the 2014 group stage, the-afc wrote.
The match will be held in Doha’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday.
The Group D encounter will start Al Rayyan’s eighth campaign in the competition but, despite coming close last year, the Doha team has never advanced beyond the group stage.
Al Rayyan scored eight goals in three home games last year, while one of their best performances came in a 3-1 home victory over Esteghlal’s city rival Persepolis when star man Rodrigo Tabata netted twice.
Two-time winner Esteghlal did manage to make it out of the group stage last year, before a 6-1 defeat to Al Ain in the second leg of the Round of 16 brought its continental dream to an abrupt halt.