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Iran
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| Nickname |
Team Melli
("The National Team") |
| Association |
I.R.I.F.F. |
| Head coach |
 Amir Ghalenoei |
| Most caps |
Ali Daei (149) |
| Top scorer |
Ali Daei (109) |
| Home Stadium |
Azadi Stadium |
| FIFA code |
IRN |
| FIFA ranking |
38 (+5) |
| Highest FIFA ranking |
15 (July 2001) |
| Lowest FIFA ranking |
122 (May 1996) |
| Elo ranking |
25 (+4) |
| Highest Elo ranking |
15 (May 2005) |
| Lowest Elo ranking |
73 (January 1964) |
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First international
 Afghanistan 0 - 0 Iran 
(Kabul, Afghanistan; January 1, 1941) |
Largest win
Iran 19 - 0 Guam 
(Tabriz, Iran; November 24, 2000) |
Worst defeat
 Turkey 6 - 1 Iran
(Istanbul, Turkey; May 28, 1950)
 South Korea 5 - 0 Iran
(Tokyo, Japan; May 28, 1958) |
| World Cup |
| Appearances |
3 (First in 1978) |
| Best result |
Round 1, 1978, 1998, 2006 |
| AFC Asian Cup |
| Appearances |
12 (First in 1960) |
| Best result |
Winners, 1968, 1972, 1976 |
The Iran national football team represents Iran in international football competitions and is controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation. The Iranian national football team is known as Team Melli. It is one of the strongest teams in Asia, the first ranked Asian team in FIFA's latest World Rankings. As of November 2006, Iran is ranked 38 in the FIFA World Rankings, and 25 in the World Football Elo Ratings. Iran was, at its peak, ranked 15th in both FIFA and Elo world rankings.
Since 23 November 2006, Iran has been suspended by FIFA from all participation in international football, by virtue of a violation of Article 17 of the FIFA statutes which deals with governmental interference in the national organisation of the sport. a Despite the suspension, the Iran under-23 team have been given special permission to participate in the football competition of the 2006 Asian Games.b
[edit] History
Iran have won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976) and have finished third four times. In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup and lost two of their three group stage games against the Netherlands and Peru. However, they managed to create a shocker by drawing against the famous Scotland side 1-1 with a late Iraj Danaeifard goal.
After the 1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside during the mid 1980s due to internal unrest and the Iran-Iraq War although rumors saying that Iran didn't play football during that time are untrue. Football managed to make its revival in the early 1990s with new talents like Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri.
In November 1997, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after eliminating Australia in a close playoff series. Both games finished undecided, but Iran managed to qualify due to the away goals rule. Iran held Australia to a 1-1 draw at home, and a 2-2 draw in Melbourne; however, since Iran had scored more away goals, they were able to qualify for the 1998 World Cup. Iran also recorded their first World Cup victory in that tournament, beating the United States 2-1. The Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement because of each country's political stance after the Iranian revolution. 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.
The number of "footy fanatics" in Iran has since increased exponentially in the last two decades. Football can be seen almost everywhere in Iran. Kids playing football in narrow streets is a very common sight, particularly in the south and east of Iran's capitol city Tehran. This style of football named "gol-kūchīk" ("small-net") is normally played with signature purple/red and white balls which are sold in almost every Iranian "dokān" or convenience store. Street football is usually played with "dolayeh" ("two-layered") or "selayeh" (triple-layered) plastic balls, because a single rubber ball alone is hard to control. One plastic ball is cut and the other is forced inside its hard plastic shell to make a "dolayeh" plastic ball. Because street football is played in small and closed areas (and often with very small nets), Iranian players are often technically gifted, but conversely are often weaker on defending long balls and set-pieces.
On June 8, 2005, Iran together with Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, making it Iran's 3rd appearance on the world stage of football. The qualification round both in 2001 and 2004-05 resulted in mass celebrations, hysteria and rioting, causing internal chaos and unrest between youth and government officials. The Iran versus Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers in Tehran was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations.
[edit] Stadium
Iran play their home games in the massive Azadi (Freedom) Stadium which was built in the mid 1970s with a capacity of over 100,000.
[edit] Tournament records
- 2000 - Winners
- 2002 - Third Place
- 2004 - Winners
- 2006 - Qualified
[edit] Managers
 Hossein Sedeghiani Ferenc Meszaros- Hossein Fekri[1]
- Gyorgy Szucs
- Mahmoud Bayati[2]
 Zdravko Rajkov- Mohammad Bayati
 Igor Netto- Parviz Dehdari[3]
- Mohammad Ranjbar
 Danny McLennan
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- ^ Fekri was twice the manager of Iran, between 1962-66 and two matches in 1967.
- ^ Bayati was twice the manager of Iran, between 1968-70 and 1972-73.
- ^ Dehdari was twice the manager of Iran, in 1972 and three years during 1986-89.
- ^ Talebi was twice the manager of Iran, in 1998 and 2000.
- ^ Ivankovic was twice the manager of Iran, in 2002 and 2003-06.
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
[edit] Goalkeepers
[edit] Defenders
[edit] Midfielders
[edit] Forwards
[edit] Recent callups
The following players have also been called up to the Iran squad within the last four months:
[edit] Previous squads
[edit] Most capped players
As of November 15, 2006, the players with the most caps for Iran are:
The records are collected based on data from FIFA and RSSSF.
* denotes a player still playing or available for selection.
[edit] Top goalscorers
As of November 15, 2006, the players with the most goals for Iran are:
The records are collected based on data from FIFA and RSSSF.
* denotes a player still playing or available for selection.
[edit] References
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
