Foolad Khuzestan Football Club (, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Ahvaz,
Khuzestan
Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...
, that plays in
Persian Gulf Pro League. The club was founded in 1971 and is owned by Foolad Khuzestan Company.
The club has won Iran Pro League twice, including a championship in the lower division,
Azadegan League. In the
2004–05 season, Foolad became the champion of the fourth newly founded Iran Pro League (IPL), gaining a total of 64 points over 30 league matches. After several seasons, Foolad lost many of its key players through transfers and internal problems and also displayed a poor performance in the
2006 AFC Champions League. The club was subsequently relegated to the
Azadegan League, second highest division in Iran at the end of
2006–07. However, Foolad was able to return to the IPL starting from the next season,
2008–09 Iran Pro League. Foolad won its second championship in
2013–14 season. The club also won their first
Hazfi Cup title in the
2020–21 season.
Foolad's home kit is red and yellow shirts, with the same color for shorts, accompanied by red socks. The colors used in clothing are derived from the symbol of the club.
Club history
Establishment and first years (1971–1995)
Foolad Khuzestan Football Club was founded on 2 March 1971 in
Ahwaz,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
by at that time, President of the Foolad Khuzestan Company Ali Akbar Davar. Foolad was a team that no one knew anything about until the dissolution of ''
Jonoub Ahwaz'' in 1996. Foolad won the
Ahwaz City Championship in 1991 and entered the 2nd division of the
Khuzestan
Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...
football league two years later. Foolad won the first group in its debut season and was promoted to the Ahwaz's first league which they won in their debut season as well. This meant they would be promoted to the Khuzestan Provincial Leagues.
Road to the Highest Division (1995–2001)
In 1995, which was Foolad's second year in the ''
Khuzestan
Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...
's Second Division'', they became provincial champions. That same year ''
Jonoub Ahvaz'', was contracted and Foolad took their place in
Iran Football's 2nd Division
Iranian football's 2nd division () is the third-highest football (soccer), football division overall in the Iranian football league system. Before 2001, the 2nd division league was the second-highest division in the national football league system ...
. In 1996, with
Homayoun Shahrokhinejad as manager, the team was promoted to the
1st division.
Frančić era (2004–2006)
The team was eventually bought by the ''Ahwaz Steel Mill''. The team was finally able to win the
IPL in the
2004–05 season but due to some ensuing internal problems and coaching difficulties could not perform well in the
2006 Asian Champions League.
ACL and relegation (2006–2007)
After a mediocre
2005–06, Foolad started the
2006–07 season with former Iranian national team coach
Mohammad Mayeli Kohan, but he resigned halfway through the season as Foolad had achieved poor results. Youth club coach
Nenad Nikolić temporarily replaced him and soon after Portuguese manager
Augusto Inácio was named head coach. Foolad went through a terrible
2006–07 season finishing 15th and being relegated to the lower
Azadegan League.
Return to First Division and Jalali years (2007–2012)
Foolad start the
2007–08 season at
Azadegan League and won the playoff spot despite their strong leadership until the last weeks. In the playoff, they drew with
Payam Mashhad in a two-leg matches and missed the promotion via away goal. A few weeks later they bought the right to play in
Persian Gulf Cup from
Sepahan Novin and promoted to
IPL. Then
Majid Jalali was announced as the club's head coach with signing a three years contract where they had an average season with ending the season in the 7th place.
On September 1, 2009, Seifollah Dehkordi was elected as the club's president after previous president Masoud Rezaeian resigned from his position. After the election of Dehkordi, Majid Jalali left the club despite good results.
Luka Bonačić was named as Jalali's successor but he could not please the club as he was not able to win a single match in first eight weeks and the club decided to bring
Majid Jalali back where they finished the league 10th. At the Jalali's final year as Foolad manager, the club ended the season at the 14th place, the worst since their promotion back to the league.
League success under Faraki (2012–2014)

After Jalali's contract was not renewed,
Naft Tehran manager
Hossein Faraki was named as the club's new head coach. He led Foolad to the 4th rank in his first season as the club's manager, gaining an
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...
spot for the second time in the Foolad's history. In the
2013–14 Iran Pro League season, Faraki led the club to their second
Iran Pro League title, his team finished with 57 points. They finished 2 points clear of second place
Persepolis
Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...
. Five days later, Foolad advanced to the Round of 16 of the
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...
for the first time after they defeated
El-Jaish of
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
. Foolad lost to
Al Sadd on away goals.
On 23 May 2014, Faraki resigned as the manager of the club, due to knee problems, despite two good seasons with Foolad.
Dragan Skočić was named as his successor.
Reserve team
Foolad Novin is the reserve side of Foolad. In 2014 they were promoted to the
Azadegan League for the second time in their history.
Foolad Yazd is not Foolad's reserve team, but is a feeder club, they also compete in the
Azadegan League.
Youth academy
In April 1999, Foolad formed a youth academy.
Kit
The name and symbol of the club adapted from its founder and owner company,
Foolad. Its symbol means that is related to steel production process. The club's logo repeatedly changed but the overall layout is preserved. After Foolad's league title in 2006, club added a golden star above the team logo etched into the club's shirt, but this was not accepted by the
Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation. So there is not any star on the club's official logo.
Foolad began playing in red, yellow and black, but then changed the yellow to white since 1999. The kit has been made by
Nike until 2002. Then
Merooj and
Daei Sport were the club's kit manufacturers.
Uhlsport is the current kit manufacturers, made the kits from past four years. The club currently doesn't have any official sponsor as the club's company name is inserted on the shirts.
* – Tefal was the sponsor of the team in only some matches not full season.
Rivals
The team competes in Ahvaz derby against
Esteghlal Khuzestan which is a new born club. The first time the teams met each other was in season
2013–14 which
Esteghlal Khuzestan lost that game.
Players
First-team squad
Out on loan
Notable players
Players on international cups
2002 Asian Games
*
Yahya Golmohammadi
*
Jalal Kameli-Mofrad
*
Iman Mobali
*
Ali Badavi
*
Ebrahim Mirzapour
2004 AFC Asian Cup
*
Hossein Kaebi
*
Jalal Kameli-Mofrad
*
Iman Mobali
*
Ali Badavi
*
Ebrahim Mirzapour
*
Mohammad Alavi
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
*
Hossein Kaebi
*
Ebrahim Mirzapour
2006 Asian Games
*
Pejman Montazeri
*
Adel Kolahkaj
2010 Asian Games
*
Arash Afshin
2011 AFC Asian Cup
*
Arash Afshin
*
Reza Norouzi
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...
*
Bakhtiar Rahmani
Bakhtiar Rahmani (; born 23 September 1991) is an Iranian Kurdish Association football, footballer.
Early life
Rahmani was born in Sarpol-e Zahab.
Club career
Foolad
Rahmani has played his entire career for Foolad F.C., Foolad. After the rele ...
2014 Asian Games
*
Yousef Vakia
2015 AFC Asian Cup
*
Soroush Rafiei
Personnel
Current technical staff
*
Last updated: 11 August 2022
*
Source
Coaching staff
/small>
Management
*
Last updated: 15 March 2023
*
Source
Board of Directors
/small>
Recent seasons
The table below chronicles the achievements of Foolad in various competitions since 1990.
Stadium information

The club plays their home games at the newly built 30,655-seat
Foolad Arena in northern
Ahvaz since 2019. Before this, the club played originally at the
Takhti Stadium until 2012 and
Ghadir Stadium from 2012 until 2019.
Honours
Domestic
*
Persian Gulf Pro League:
** Winners (2):
2004–05,
2013–14
*
Hazfi Cup:
** Winners (1):
2020–21
*
Iranian Super Cup:
** Winners (1):
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
Records and statistics
All Top scorers
''As of 31 May 2025''
All Top Appearances
See also
*
Foolad B
*
Foolad C
*
Hafari Ahvaz F.C.
References
External links
Foolad F.C. Official Website*
Foolad F.C. Fans Weblog*
Khuzestan Football Association
{{Iranian football league champions
Football clubs in Iran
Association football clubs established in 1971
Football clubs in Ahvaz
1971 establishments in Iran
Sport in Ahvaz