) ''(the national team)''
''
other nicknames''
, Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg
, Badge_size = 190px
, Association =
Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran
, FIFA Trigramme = IRN
, FIFA Rank =
, FIFA max = 15
, FIFA max date = August 2005
, FIFA min = 122
, FIFA min date = May 1996
, Elo Rank =
, Elo max = 18
, Elo max date = 12 April 2005, 24 January 2019
, Elo min = 77
, Elo min date = 11 December 1959
, Confederation =
AFC
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
(Asia)
, Sub-confederation =
CAFA (Central Asia)
, Head Coach =
Leonid Slutsky
, Captain =
Ehsan Hajsafi
, Most caps =
Javad Nekounam (151)
, Top scorer =
Ali Daei (
109 109 may refer to:
* 109 (number), the integer following 108 and preceding 110
* AD 109, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD
* 109 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar
* 109 (department store), a department store in Shib ...
)
, Home Stadium =
Azadi Stadium
, pattern_la1 = _irn22h
, pattern_b1 = _irn22h
, pattern_ra1 = _irn22h
, pattern_sh1 = FFFFFF
, pattern_so1 =
, leftarm1 = EC0000
, body1 = FFFFFF
, rightarm1 = FFFFFF
, shorts1 = FFFFFF
, socks1 = FFFFFF
, pattern_la2 = _irn22a
, pattern_b2 = _irn22a
, pattern_ra2 = _irn22a
, pattern_sh2 = EC0000
, pattern_so2 =
, leftarm2 = EC0000
, body2 = EC0000
, rightarm2 = EC0000
, shorts2 = FF0000
, socks2 = FF0000
, First game = 0–0
(
Kabul,
Afghanistan; 25 August 1941)
, Largest win =
19–0 (
Tabriz,
Iran; 24 November 2000)
, Largest loss = 6–1
(
Istanbul, Turkey; 28 May 1950)
, World cup apps = 6
, World cup first = 1978
, World cup best = Group stage (
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
,
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
, Regional name =
Olympic Games
, Regional cup apps = 3
, Regional cup first =
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
, Regional cup best = Quarter-finals (
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
)
, 2ndRegional name =
Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...
, 2ndRegional cup apps = 15
, 2ndRegional cup first =
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
, 2ndRegional cup best = Champions (
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
,
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
)
, 3rdRegional name =
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
, 3rdRegional cup apps = 10
, 3rdRegional cup first =
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, 3rdRegional cup best = Champions (
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
)
, medaltemplates =
The Iran national football team,, name=, group= recognised by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
as IR Iran, represents
Iran in men's international
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
since their maiden match in 1941. It is controlled by the
Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and is governed in Asia by
AFC
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
. The team's home ground is the
Azadi Stadium in
Tehran.
At the continental level, Iran has won three
Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...
championships in
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. The nation's best performance at the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
was reaching the quarterfinals at the
1976 Montreal Games. At the
FIFA World Cup, Iran have qualified six times (
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
,
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
and
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
) but have never progressed beyond the group stages; they have however, won three matches: against the
United States in 1998,
Morocco in 2018 and
Wales in 2022.
History
Early years

The
Iranian Football Federation was founded in 1920. In 1926,
Tehran XI (selected players from
Tehran Club,
Toofan F.C. Toofan may refer to:
* ''Toofan'' (1989 film), Indian Hindi-language film directed by Ketan Desai starring Amitabh Bachchan
* ''Toofan'' (2002 film), Pakistani Urdu-language film directed by Parvez Rana
*''Thoofan'', also known as ''Zanjeer'' in ...
and
Armenian Sports Club
Armenian Sports Club ( fa, کلوب اسپرت ارامنه) was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. It was Iran's first sport club for Iranian-Armenians. It is not known exactly when the sport club ceased to exist, but it can be assum ...
) traveled across the border to
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
, USSR, this was the first away football match for an Iranian team. This Tehran Select team is the predecessor of Iran's national football team.
The first match that ''Team Melli'' played was on 23 August 1941, away at
Kabul in a 1–0 win against
British India while Iran's first
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
international match was on 25 August 1941, away at
Afghanistan.
Iran won the
Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...
three consecutive times (
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
,
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
) to which the team has not been able to add since.

In
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
, Iran made its first appearance in the
World Cup after defeating
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in
Tehran. Iran lost two of three group stage matches against the
Netherlands and
Peru. Team Melli managed to surprise some in the footballing community by securing one point in its first ever World Cup appearance against
Scotland which saw
Iraj Danaeifard cancel out an own goal scored by
Andranik Eskandarian for the 1–1 draw.
After the Revolution
After the
1979 Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside. During the
1980s
File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...
, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to the
Iran–Iraq War (1980–88) and domestic football embraced the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the
1982 World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...
and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the
1986 World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...
because of having to play on neutral ground. The war and political upheavals left Iran without major club competitions until 1989 when the
Qods League was established. A year later, the Qods League was renamed the
Azadegan League
The Azadegan League ( fa, ليگ آزادگان, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 ( fa, لیگ یک, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran from ...
. Despite failing to qualify for both the
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
and
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
World Cups, it was said that during this period, a number of quality players burst onto the Iranian football scene laying the foundation for third place in the
1996 AFC Asian Cup
The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th 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 the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 Decembe ...
(victories in that tournament included a 3–0 victory against
Saudi Arabia and a 6–2 victory against
South Korea) and their second stab at World Cup glory in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
.
1998–2006
In November 1997, Iran qualified for the
1998 World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
after eliminating
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in a close playoff series. After being tied 3–3 on aggregate, Iran advanced due to the
away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...
; Iran held Australia to a 1–1 draw at home, and a 2–2 draw in
Melbourne.
At their first game at the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
against Yugoslavia, Iran lost 1–0 to a free kick by
Siniša Mihajlović.
Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game
beating and eliminating the
United States 2–1 with
Hamid Estili and
Mehdi Mahdavikia scoring goals for Iran. The Iran-US World Cup match was preheated with certain excitement because of each country's political stance after the
Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
and the
Iran hostage crisis. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or politics in sports, both sides presented one another with gifts and flowers and took ceremonial pictures before the match kickoff.
Iran played against
Germany in the third game, losing 2–0 courtesy of goals from
Oliver Bierhoff and
Jürgen Klinsmann, finishing third in the group.
Iran finished first in the group stage of the
2000 Asia Cup
The 2000 Asia Cup (as called Pepsi Asia Cup) was the seventh edition of the Asia Cup for cricket, which was held in Bangladesh between 29 May – 7 June, 2000. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh took part in the tournament. Pakistan won ...
but lost to
South Korea in the quarter-finals. They failed to qualify for
World Cup 2002, held in Asia for the first time, after an aggregate defeat to the
Republic of Ireland, losing 2–0 in
Dublin and winning 1–0 in
Tehran. The elimination saw manager
Miroslav Blažević step down from the top spot to be replaced by his assistant
Branko Ivanković who stepped up from assistant coach.
After qualifying to the
Asian Cup 2004, Iran was drawn with
Thailand,
Oman and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in the tournament. Iran finished second in the group. In the quarter-final clash against
South Korea, Iran won 4–3. They then lost to host
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
on penalty kicks, and won against
Bahrain 4–2 to finish third place in the tournament.

On 8 June 2005, Iran and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
became the first countries other than hosts
Germany to qualify for the
2006 World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
.
The Iran-Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers in Tehran, played on 24 March 2005, was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations. The match ended with five fans dead and several others injured as they left the
Azadi Stadium at the end of the match.
Iran started their Germany 2006 appearance with a match against North America's
Mexico in
Group D Group D may refer to:
* FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars:
** Formula Two
** Formula Three
** Formula 3000
* One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup
** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D
** 2018 FIFA World ...
. Being 1–1 at half-time, defensive mistakes led to a Mexican 3–1 win, with goals from
Omar Bravo and
Sinha
Sinha is a Sanskrit term which originates in the Indian subcontinent and is common in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, covering South Asia. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning " lion" or "brave person".
Usage
subcontinent
In Indi ...
.
Yahya Golmohammadi
Yahya Golmohammadi ( fa, يحيى گل محمدى, born 19 March 1971) also knowend as YaYa is an Iranian former footballer and coach who is currently managing the Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis. He is one of only eight Iranians to sco ...
scored the only Iranian goal.
Iran played against
Portugal in the second game, losing 2–0. The goals were scored by
Deco and a penalty from
Cristiano Ronaldo. Iran were eliminated from the competition before their third and final game against
Angola, a 1–1 draw.
Temporary suspension

In November 2006, Iran was suspended by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
from all participation in international football on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association. The ban lasted less than a month and as a dispensation was given to allow the
Iran under-23 team to participate in the
football competition of the
2006 Asian Games
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
, fixtures were unaffected.
2007–14
The
IRIFF
The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...
appointed
Amir Ghalenoei as manager of Iran on 17 July 2006 to succeed
Branko Ivanković. After finishing first in the
2007 Asian Cup
The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its hi ...
qualifying round two points ahead of
South Korea, Iran placed first in the group stage of the final tournament in Malaysia, eventually losing to their qualifying opponents in a penalty shoot-out in the quarterfinals. After a period of discussion in the Iranian football federation, his contract was not renewed and Team Melli was left with a caretaker manager for several months.
Then-leading international goalscorer
Ali Daei was chosen to become the new manager after Spanish coach
Javier Clemente had been closer to signing on as Iran's national team manager, when talks collapsed when he refused to live full-time in the country. Iran was placed with
Kuwait,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
United Arab Emirates in the third round of 2010 World Cup qualifying. Ali Daei resigned from his position as the Iranian national coach on 29 March 2009, replaced by
Afshin Ghotbi. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after finishing fourth overall in its group.
During the final game of the
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against
South Korea in
Seoul on 17 June 2009, seven members of the team wore green wristbands in support of the
Iranian Green Movement during the
2009 Iranian election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...
. Initial rumors and false reports were that all seven players were banned for life by the
Iranian Football Federation, however, state-run media claimed that all seven had "retired".
On 24 June 2009,
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
wrote to Iran's Football Federation asking for clarification on the situation. The Iranian Football Federation replied that no disciplinary action has been taken against any player.

Iran renewed the contract with
Afshin Ghotbi until the end of
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 fifte ...
and the team qualified to the tournament with 13 points as the group winners.
During the final
qualification match against
South Korea, several Iranian players started the match wearing green
armbands or
wristbands, a symbol of
protest at the outcome of the Iranian presidential election. Most removed them at half-time. The newspaper ''Iran'' reported that
Ali Karimi
Mohammad Ali Karimi Pashaki ( fa, علی کریمی ; born 8 November 1978) is an Iranian football coach and former player. During his professional football career, he has played in the Iran Pro League, UAE Pro League, Qatar Stars League and B ...
,
Mehdi Mahdavikia,
Hosein Kaebi
Hossein Kaebi ( fa, حسین کعبی, born September 23, 1985) is a former Iranian professional football player who last played for Sepidrood and Perspolis among other clubs in Persian Gulf Pro League.
Club career
Kaebi started his football ...
and
Vahid Hashemian had received life bans from the
Iranian FA for the gesture. However, the Iranian FA denied this claim in a response to
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
's inquiry saying that "the comments in foreign media are nothing but lies and a mischievous act." Head coach
Afshin Ghotbi also confirmed that it was a rumour and Iranian FA "has not taken any official stand on this issue."
Afshin Ghotbi qualified Iran for the
2011 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 fifte ...
and finished second in the
West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010 just a few months before the Asian Cup. Iran were able to gain all nine possible points in the group stage of the Asian Cup but after an extra time goal from South Korea, Iran were yet again eliminated from the quarter-finals.
On 4 April 2011, former
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
manager
Carlos Queiroz agreed to a two-and-a-half-year deal to coach the Iranian national team until the end of the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
in Brazil.
Under Queiroz, Iran began their
World Cup qualification campaign successfully, defeating the
Maldives 4–0 in the first leg of their
second round of qualifiers. After winning 5–0 on aggregate, Iran advanced to the
third round of qualifiers where they were drawn with
Indonesia,
Qatar and
Bahrain.
Iran highlighted their position at the top of
their group by defeating Bahrain 6–0 at home in the
Azadi Stadium as well as inviting former
German youth international Ashkan Dejagah who scored twice on his debut against Qatar. After a 4–1 win at Indonesia, Iran qualified for the final round of direct qualifiers, the
fourth round. In the fourth round, Iran played South Korea,
Qatar,
Uzbekistan and
Lebanon in
their group. Queiroz made new
foreign-based additions to his squad, adding players such as
Reza Ghoochannejhad to his team.
Iran started their fourth round of Asian qualifiers with a 1–0 win in Uzbekistan. ''Team Melli'' then drew Qatar and lost in Lebanon before defeating South Korea at the Azadi on 16 October with a goal from captain
Javad Nekounam. After a 1–0 loss in Tehran against Uzbekistan, Iran defeated Qatar 1–0 in
Doha and Lebanon 4–0 at home. In their last qualification match, Iran defeated South Korea 1–0 in
Ulsan Munsu with a goal from Ghoochannejhad, clinching their ticket to Brazil as group winners with 16 points. Thus, Iran became the third team that Queiroz has managed to qualify for the
World Cup, having reached the
2002 edition with
South Africa and the
2010 edition with
Portugal, leading the latter to a knockout stage finish. Iran continued their winning streak, securing
qualification to the
2015 Asian Cup months later as well.
Since Queiroz's role as manager of the Iranian national team, he has been renowned for introducing players from the
Iranian diaspora to the national squad. These players include
German-Iranians Daniel Davari and
Ashkan Dejagah,
Dutch-Iranian Reza Ghoochannejhad,
Swedish-Iranians Omid Nazari
Omid Nazari ( fa, امید نظری, born 29 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. His brother, Amin, also played for Omid's previous club, Malmö FF, in the Allsvenskan.
Career
Club career
Malmö FF
Nazari mad ...
and
Saman Ghoddos, and
Iranian-American
Iranian Americans are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship.
Iranian Americans are among the most highly educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in busine ...
Steven Beitashour among others.

Iran competed in
Group F Group F may refer to:
* A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing
* One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup
** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group F
** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F
** 2014 FIF ...
alongside
Argentina,
Nigeria and
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to the tournament, they founded the
Central Asian Football Association
The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is an association of the football playing nations in Central Asia.
In June 2014, the association was in principle approved by the Asian Football Confederation and approved at the Extraordinary Congr ...
.
In the opening match of the tournament on 16 June, Iran drew
Nigeria 0–0 making it their first clean sheet in the World Cup. In their next match, Iran was
defeated by
Argentina 1–0 with a late goal from
Lionel Messi and received praise after holding Argentina for 90 minutes while creating some attacking opportunities of their own. Iran was eliminated from the tournament in their next game, a 3–1 defeat to
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Iran's lone goal was scored by
Reza Ghoochannejhad. After the tournament, Queiroz declared he would resign as manager of Iran but later switched and extended his contract until the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...
.
Late 2010s
Iran qualified for the
2015 AFC Asian Cup
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...
as
group winners where Team Melli were the highest
ranked seed. Iran faced
Bahrain,
Qatar and the
UAE in
Group C.
With the second highest number of fans in the tournament after hosts
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the Iranians defeated Bahrain 2–0 with limited preparations. A defensive-minded Iran then defeated Qatar 1–0 thanks to a
Sardar Azmoun goal before defeating UAE by the same scoreline to reach the top of their group.
In the
quarter-finals Iran faced
Iraq who they had beaten weeks prior in a
friendly match. Having received a controversial
red card in the first half, Iran competed with ten men, managing to score goals late in
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
to draw the match 3–3. In the ensuing
penalty shootout, Iran lost 7–6.

Iran began their
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with
friendly matches against
Chile and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in March 2015. Queiroz resigned from his managerial post thereafter due to disagreements with the
Iranian Football Federation. On 14 April 2015, Iran were drawn with
Oman,
India,
Turkmenistan and
Guam in the
second round
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
of qualifiers. On 26 April, Queiroz announced that he would continue as the manager of Iran for their 2018 World Cup campaign.

Iran became the second team to qualify for the
2018 World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
after a 2–0 win at home over
Uzbekistan on 12 June 2017. They also clinched first place in their qualification
group after South Korea's defeat to
Qatar.
Iran won the first match against
Morocco after
Aziz Bouhaddouz
Aziz Bouhaddouz ( ar, عزيز بوحدوز; born 30 March 1987) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker for MSV Duisburg.
Early life
Bouhaddouz was born in Berkane, Morocco. When he was one year old, his family moved to Di ...
scoring an own goal. They then lost against
Spain with a goal scored by
Diego Costa, with
video assistant referees denying an Iranian equalizer. The third match against
Portugal ended in a draw after a
penalty scored by
Karim Ansarifard and because Morocco could only manage a 2–2 draw to Spain, Iran were eliminated. Iran's four points is the most received in any World Cup appearance.

Having qualified for the
2019 AFC Asian Cup
The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...
earlier, Iran was drawn into
group D Group D may refer to:
* FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars:
** Formula Two
** Formula Three
** Formula 3000
* One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup
** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D
** 2018 FIFA World ...
, where they shared fate with
Iraq,
Vietnam and
Yemen. Iran opened their tournament against Yemen slower and almost conceded a goal but after 10 minutes, Iran regained the ground and proved more dominant in certain aspects, thrashing Yemen 5–0. A 2–0 win over the Vietnamese side gave Iran direct qualification to the knockout stage. Iran ended their group stage with a goalless draw over neighbor Iraq and took first place. After the group stage, Iran encountered
Oman, with a defending mistake almost costing Iran's chances but
Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri's penalty was saved by
Alireza Beiranvand. Iran then defeated Oman 2–0 to reach the last eight. In the quarter-finals against a defensive
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Iran outclassed the Chinese 3–0 to meet
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in the semi-finals. Iran missed the opportunity to reach the final once again when they fell 3–0 with all three goals scored in second half.
2020s
Iran was the highest-ranked team to be seeded in the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Parallel tour ...
. Iran was drawn into the
second round
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
where they would have to deal with two Arab countries,
Iraq and
Bahrain, along with
Cambodia and
Hong Kong. Iran, under new Belgian manager
Marc Wilmots, began with a 2–0 win over Hong Kong away. After the
death of Sahar Khodayari
Sahar Khodayari ( fa, سحر خدایاری; ; c. 1990 – 9 September 2019), also known as Blue Girl was an Iranian fan of Esteghlal F.C. In March 2019, she attempted to enter the male-only Azadi Stadium disguised as a man to watch a match playe ...
, the 14–0 win over Cambodia allowed select Iranian women to enter the stadium for the first time since the
1979 Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
.
Their next away encounters against Bahrain and Iraq went on to be consecutive defeats which Iran lost 0–1 and 1–2, respectively. Following two consecutive draws between Iraq and Bahrain, Iran was left with the possibility of being eliminated from the World Cup outright in the second round, leading to the sacking of Marc Wilmots.
The
COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
forced the remaining fixtures to be played without spectators in June 2021, forcing Iran to play their remaining games in Bahrain under new coach
Dragan Skočić
Dragan Skočić (born 3 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player.
Prior to his coaching career, Skočić started his playing career with the local club Rijeka and then abroad when he signed for Las Palmas in ...
; but with Bahrain losing its home support as an advantage, and Iraq assured a place in the
final phase
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of co ...
, Iran was able to stage a comeback, occupying first place and, together with Iraq, progressed to the final phase.
Iran became the thirteenth team to qualify for the
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
after a 1–0 win at home over Iraq on 27 January 2022. In March 2022, Iranian women were again banned from entering the stadium for a World Cup qualifier. Iran's World Cup preparation friendly match against
Canada at
BC Place in June 2022 was cancelled by the
Canadian Soccer Association amid opposition and mounting criticism, namely in regards to the Iranian government's role in shooting down
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.
By the start of the World Cup in Qatar, Iran was the highest ranked team from Asia. In October 2022, calls were made to ban the Iranian national team from the World Cup for the Iranian government's
blocking of Iranian women from their stadiums, their supplying of weapons to Russia during the
invasion of Ukraine
The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history.
List
See also
*List of invasions
*List of wars involving Ukraine
References
...
, and the treatment towards protesters during the
Mahsa Amini protests. However, Iran started its World Cup campaign with a nightmare, losing 2–6 to
England in the opening game as Iran suffered the worst ever loss in its FIFA World Cup history. The Iranian team notably made headlines in their opening match against England after refusing to sing the
national anthem in solidarity with the
Mahsa Amini protests, with some Iranian supporters cheering against their own team or
boycotting their team amidst the ongoing protests as they felt the team was representing the government.
In the following match against
Wales, amidst the boos and whistles from the Iranian supporters during the playing of the national anthem, the Iranian players were filmed singing the national anthem before defeating Wales 2–0 for their first-ever win over a European nation at the World Cup, with some protestors having their pre-revolutionary
Lion and Sun flags and
Women, Life, Freedom
Woman, Life, Freedom (, ) or Woman, Life, Liberty is a popular political Kurdish slogan used in both the Kurdish independence and democratic confederalist movements. The slogan became a rallying cry during the protests which occurred in Iran as a ...
banners snatched from them by pro-government fans and stadium security at the
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. Protesters were harassed by government supporters with some protesters being detained by Qatari police, while stadium security confirmed they were given orders to confiscate anything but the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Documents obtained by
Iran International showed Iran was coordinating secret efforts with Qatar to control who attends the World Cup and restrict any signs of dissent.
Ahead of Iran's final group stage match against the
United States, the Iranian players were reportedly called in to a meeting with members of the
IRGC and were threatened with violence and torture for their families if they did not sing the national anthem or joined the protests against the Iranian regime. During the match, the Iranian players sang the national anthem again before losing to the United States 1–0 for the first time in their history and thereby being knocked out of the tournament. Many Iranians celebrated the defeat and one Iranian man was killed by security forces in
Bandar-e Anzali after honking his car horn in celebration. Another Iranian fan was also arrested by Qatari police after he was wearing a shirt with the
Woman, Life, Freedom slogan.
Team image
Nicknames
The Iranian national team has received several nicknames by supporters and media. The most common one used is ''"Team Melli"'' ( fa, تیم ملی), meaning "The National Team" in
Persian language. Although the Iranian supporters have popularized ''"Team Melli"'',
other nicknames for the team include "Persian Stars" (entitled since
the World Cup 2006) ''"Shiran e Iran"'',
meaning "The
Iranian Lions" or "The Lions of Persia", ''"Shirdilan"'', "Lion Hearts" and "Princes of Persia"
(used since
AFC Asian Cup 2011). Iran's slogan for the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
was ''Honour of Persia'', selected in an internet poll held by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.
A more recently used nickname, due to the presence of the
Asiatic cheetah
The Asiatic cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus venaticus'') is a critically endangered cheetah subspecies currently only surviving in Iran. It once occurred from the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East to the Caspian region, Transcaucasus, Kyzylkum D ...
on the 2014 World Cup jersey, is ''Youzpalangan'' which means "The Cheetahs".
Kits and crests
The Iran national football team's kit traditionally utilizes white and secondary kit is red, sometimes green shirts with white shorts and red socks
are used.
Kit suppliers
The table below shows the history of kit supplier for the Iranian national football team.
Sponsorship
Primary sponsors include
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
,
Bank Pasargad,
9090,
Golrang, Oila and Kaspid.
On 1 February 2014, Iran announced the addition of the endangered
Asiatic cheetah
The Asiatic cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus venaticus'') is a critically endangered cheetah subspecies currently only surviving in Iran. It once occurred from the Arabian Peninsula and the Near East to the Caspian region, Transcaucasus, Kyzylkum D ...
on their
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
kits in order to bring attention to its conservation efforts.
Rivalries
Iran and
Iraq are neighboring rivals, sharing a history. According to the ''
Malay Mail'', "Emotions are always high when Iran and Iraq meet on the football pitch". In the contemporary era, especially during the reign of
Saddam Hussein, the two countries had worsened relations and fought the
Iran–Iraq War for 8 years.
In 2001, for the first time in decades, an Iran-Iraq match was not held at a neutral venue.
The rivalry was escalated after Iraq knocked Iran out of the
2015 AFC Asian Cup
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...
in controversial circumstances.
Iran leads the series with
17 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses.
Iran and
Saudi Arabia are ideological rivals.
The game was ranked eighth in ''
Goal.com
GOAL is an international association football news website for FC Barcelona fans founded in 2004 by Chicco Merighi and Gianluigi Longinotti-Buitoni. It is published in 19 languages, with 38 national editions and 600 contributors. It is owned by ...
's'' 2010 list of "Football's 10 Greatest International Rivalries".
and ninth in ''
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London.
Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...
's'' 2014 list of "International Football's 10 Most Politically-Charged Football Rivalries"
All of their matches have been competitive; none of them were
friendlies
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
. The first match was played on 24 August 1975, with Iran defeating Saudi Arabia 3–0. Iran leads the series with
5 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses.
Iran and
South Korea are top Asian rivals with over 50 years of history. As two of the leading competitors on the continent in the 1970s, the Korea-Iran rivalry is among the most storied in
Asian football. Since their initial meeting in the
1958 Asian Games
The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games ( ja, 第3回アジア競技大会) and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A ...
, they have faced off in a total of 32 games. Korea frequently held the upper hand in the early years of the competition, but things started to shift in the
twenty-first century
The ''Twenty-First Century'' is a Hong Kong intellectual journal published bimonthly, with a high standard of contributions both in the social sciences and the humanities, which played an important role in Chinese intellectual life from the early ...
. Iran has triumphed six times since 2006, while Korea has only defeated them once—by a score of 1-0 at the Asian Cup in 2011. Before Korea recovered its footing in 2017 and pushed the Middle Eastern team to a tie the past three times they faced off, Iran won four straight games after the
2011 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 fifte ...
.
Stadiums

Since 1972, Iran's national stadium has been
Tehran's
Azadi Stadium with a nominal capacity of 78,116 spectators. Azadi Stadium is the
28th largest association football stadium in the world, seventh in Asia and first in West Asia. A record was set in Azadi for the
1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
with over 128,000 in attendance.
Since
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
, the government
restricts Iranian women from entering the stadiums. However, FIFA condemned the move and wrote to Iranian Football Federation in June 2019. The federation in their letter gave deadline to uplift the restrictions and let women enter the stadiums. On 25 August 2019, deputy Sports Minister Jamshid Taghizadeh stated: "Women can go to Tehran's Azadi stadium to watch the match between Iran's national team and Cambodia in October for the Qatar World Cup qualifier.” After the
death of Sahar Khodayari
Sahar Khodayari ( fa, سحر خدایاری; ; c. 1990 – 9 September 2019), also known as Blue Girl was an Iranian fan of Esteghlal F.C. In March 2019, she attempted to enter the male-only Azadi Stadium disguised as a man to watch a match playe ...
, select Iranian women were allowed to attend the match against Cambodia in October 2019.
[ However, in March 2022, Iranian women were again blocked from entering the stadium for a World Cup qualifier.
From 1942 to 1972, ]Amjadieh Stadium
The Shahid Shiroudi Stadium () formerly known as Amjadiyeh Stadium is a sports stadium in Tehran, Iran. It is currently used for athletics and held football matches until 2009.
The stadium is able to seat 30,000 people and was opened in 1942. ...
was Iran's national stadium. The other stadiums that Iran has been played international games are Bagh Shomal and Yadegar Emam Stadium ( Tabriz), Takhti Stadium Takhti Stadium ( fa, استاديوم تختی, link=no) is the name of several facilities named in honour of Iranian wrestler Gholamreza Takhti:
*Takhti Stadium (Abadan)
*Takhti Stadium (Ahvaz)
*, home ground of Malavan F.C.
* Takhti Stadium (Ard ...
( Tehran), Enghelab Stadium
The Enghelab Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Karaj, Iran. Currently, it is currently mostly used for football matches and is the home of football team Saipa as of 2001. It has a capacity of 15,000 people.
The stadium held the final mat ...
( Karaj), Hafezieh Stadium ( Shiraz), Takhti Stadium Takhti Stadium ( fa, استاديوم تختی, link=no) is the name of several facilities named in honour of Iranian wrestler Gholamreza Takhti:
*Takhti Stadium (Abadan)
*Takhti Stadium (Ahvaz)
*, home ground of Malavan F.C.
* Takhti Stadium (Ard ...
and Imam Reza Stadium (Mashhad
Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...
).
The Iran National Football Camp
Iran National Football Camp ( fa, کمپ تیمهای ملی فوتبال ایران), also known as Performance Elite Center or (PEC), is an association football training facility in Tehran, Iran. Located in west of Azadi Sport Complex and op ...
is the team's training ground.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2022
2023
*FIFA International match days 2020–2024
Coaching staff
Players
Current squad
The following 25 players have been named in Iran's 2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
final squad.
''Caps and goals correct as of 29 November 2022, after the match against United States.''
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.
PRE
INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
RET Retired from the national team
SUS Serving suspension
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to a non-injury issue.
COV Injured because of COVID-19
Player records
:
:''Players in bold are still active with Iran.''
Most capped players
Top goalscorers
Most capped goalkeepers
Captains
Competition records
FIFA World Cup
Olympic Games
AFC Asian Cup
Asian Games
WAFF Championship
:1 Iran played their B team in this tournament however recognised as international "A" matches.
Head-to-head record
:''Last match updated: on 29 November 2022.''
* FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
considers Russia as the inheritor of the records of Soviet Union.
* FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
considers Serbia as the inheritor of the records of SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
and FR Yugoslavia.
* FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
considers Czech Republic as the inheritor of the records of Czechoslovakia.
FIFA World Rankings
Between December 2014 until May 2018, Iran was the highest-ranked team in Asia, the longest continuous period of time that a team has held that distinction.
; Highest FIFA ranking : 15 (July 2005)
; Lowest FIFA ranking : 122 (May 1996)
; Best mover : +65 (July 1996)
; Worst mover : –43 (October 1995)
''Last update was on 13 March 2021''
Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover
Honours
Summary
Continental
*
Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...
:
Champions: 1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
, 1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, 1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
:
Third place: 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
, 1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
, 1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, 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 6 ...
:Fourth place: 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
:Semi-finals: 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
:
Gold Medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
: 1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
, 1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, 1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, 2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
:
Silver Medal
A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...
: 1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, 1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
Regional
* West Asian Football Federation Championship
: Champions: 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, 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 6 ...
, 2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
*, 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
: Runners-up: 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
: Third place: 2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
*ECO Cup
The ECO Cup was a football competition for members of Economic Cooperation Organization. Previously it was known as RCD Cup, RCD abbreviates Regional Corporation for Development and was an economic cooperation between Iran, Pakistan and Turkey from ...
: Champions: 1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
, 1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, 1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
: Runners-up: 1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
, 1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
, 1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
**
* as B Team
** as Malavan F.C.
Intercontinental
* AFC/OFC Challenge Cup
: Champions: 2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
* Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
: Runners-up: 1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
Minor tournaments
* LG Cup: 4 Champions, 4 Third place
* Minor Tournament: 5 Champions, 6 Runners-up, 4 Third place
See also
* Football in Iran
*Iran national futsal team
The Iran national futsal team represents Iran in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Futsal Commission of the Iranian Football Federation. According to the Futsal World Ranking, it is ranked 5th in the world, and 1st amongs ...
* Iran national beach soccer team
* Iran national under-23 football team
* Iran national under-20 football team
* Iran national under-17 football team
* Iran women's national football team
* Iran women's national under-20 football team
* Iran women's national under-17 football team
* Iran women's national futsal team
* Tehran XI
Notes
References
External links
*
Iran profile
at FIFA.com
Extensive archive of Team's results, squads, campaigns and players
Players Profile, Articles, Statistics and Gallery of National Team
Iran Team Qatar 2022
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AFC Asian Cup-winning countries
Asian national association football teams
Football in Iran