Iman Mobali (; born November 3, 1982) is an Iranian retired

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach.

Club career

Foolad

Mobali joined Foolad's senior team in 2000. He was considered to be the creative dynamo of the highly talented Foolad, based in

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 ...

's oil-rich

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 ...

province. Mobali was the key member of his team during Foolad's Iran Pro League championship. Which also secured a berth in 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 in club history.

Al-Shabab

In 2005 Mobali signed a contract with Al-Shabab in the UAE League. In his first season, he scored 6 times in 15 appearances. In the following season Mobali was hit with a series of injuries and only managed to make 11 league appearances. In his last year with Al-Shabab he had his best year, he scored 9 goals in 19 appearances and Al-Shabab won the league title.

Al Wasl & Al Nasr

In summer 2008 he signed a contract with the UAE giants, Al Wasl. In his one and only season with the club, Mobali scored 7 times in 19 appearances. He left the club at the end of the season. He signed for Al Nasr in summer 2009. After an unsuccessful season with Al Nasr, Mobali decided not to extend his contract and returned to Iran.

Esteghlal

Mobali signed a one-year contract with Esteghlal in the spring of 2010. He made 36 total appearances and did not manage to score a goal. He left the club at the end of the season and signed with UAE club Al Sharjah. He only made 8 appearances before leaving the club.

Paykan

After his stint in Sharjah, Mobali again returned to the Iran Pro League and again returned to

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

; this time he signed with Paykan in the summer of 2012. He scored twice in 25 appearances but was unable to help Paykan from getting relegated to the

Azadegan League The Azadegan League (, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 (, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran from its foundation in 1991 until 2001, when t ...

Esteghlal Khuzestan

After Paykan was relegated, Mobali left the team and joined newly promoted club Esteghlal Khuzestan. He made 25 appearances and scored twice before being loaned out to his former club Esteghlal. He made 4 appearances with Esteghlal before season's end.

Naft Tehran

In summer of 2014, Mobali signed a two-year contract with Naft Tehran. He finished the 2014–15 season with 13 assists, most in the league. On 1 July 2015 Mobali extended his contract with Naft Tehran for one more year.

Club career statistics

* Assist Goals

International career

At international level Mobali is considered one of Asia's brightest prospects. Mobali made his debut for the Iran national team in January 2001 against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He was among Iran's under-23 squad in 2002, winning a gold medal at the

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

2011 Asian Cup

Mobali started most of the matches in the group stage for "Team Melli" in

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

, and scored a beautiful goal in a match against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

from a curling free-kick.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.''

Awards and honours

Club

Foolad * Iran Pro League: 2004–05 Al-Shabab * UAE Pro League: 2007–08 Naft Tehran *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

: 2016–17

Country

Iran U-23 *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Iran * WAFF:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

third place:

Individual

* Persian Gulf Pro League Top Assistant: 2014–15

External links

Iman Mobali
a
TeamMelli.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mobali, Iman 1982 births Living people Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Esteghlal F.C. players Foolad F.C. players Al Shabab Al Arabi Club (Dubai) players Iranian expatriate men's footballers People from Izeh Nirooye Zamini F.C. players Al Wasl F.C. players Sharjah FC players Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. players Naft Tehran F.C. players Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Persian Gulf Pro League players Azadegan League players UAE Pro League players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Footballers from Khuzestan province 21st-century Iranian sportsmen