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| Iran |
|
|
| Nickname |
Team Melli
("The National Team") |
| Association |
I.R.I.F.F. |
| Confederation |
AFC (Asia) |
| Head coach |
 Amir Ghalenoei |
| Captain |
Mehdi Mahdavikia |
| Most caps |
Ali Daei (149) |
| Top scorer |
Ali Daei (109) |
| Home stadium |
Azadi Stadium |
| FIFA code |
IRN |
| FIFA ranking |
34 (-2) |
| Highest FIFA ranking |
15 (July 2001) |
| Lowest FIFA ranking |
122 (May 1996) |
| Elo ranking |
26 (-) |
| Highest Elo ranking |
15 (May 2005) |
| Lowest Elo ranking |
73 (January 1964) |
|
|
First international
 Afghanistan 0 - 0 Iran 
(Kabul, Afghanistan; January 1, 1941) |
Biggest win
Iran 19 - 0 Guam 
(Tabriz, Iran; November 24, 2000) |
Biggest 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, indeed the highest ranking Asian team in FIFA's latest World Rankings. As of March 2007, Iran is ranked 34 in the FIFA World Rankings, and 26 in the World Football Elo Ratings. Iran was, at its peak, ranked 15th in both FIFA and Elo world rankings.
[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.[citation needed] 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 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.[citation needed]
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.
In November 2006, Iran was suspended by FIFA from all participation in international football, on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association.a The ban lasted less than a month, b and as a dispensation was given to allow the Iran under-23 team to participate in the football competition of the 2006 Asian Games, c fixtures were unaffected.
[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
[edit] World Cup record
[edit] Asian Cup record
[edit] West Asian Football Federation Championship record
- 2000 - Winners
- 2002 - Third Place
- 2004 - Winners
- 2006 - Qualified
[edit] Managers
 Hossein Sedeghiani (1941-1948) Don Gibel (1948-1949)- Hossein Sedeghiani (1949-1950)
- Mostafa Salimi (1950-1952)
 Edmund Masayufskei (1955-1957) Ferenc Sas (1957-1959) Hossein Fekri (1962-1966)- György Sárosi (1966-1967)
- Hossein Fekri (1967)
- Mahmoud Bayati(1968)
 Zdravko Rajkov (1968-1970) Igor Netto (1970-1971)- Parviz Dehdari (1971-1972)
- Mohammad Ranjbar (1972)
- Mahmoud Bayati (1972-1974)
 Frank O'Farrell (1974-1976)- Heshmat Mohajerani (1976-1978)
- Hassan Habibi (1979-1980)
- Asqar Sharafi[1] (1981)
- Parviz Abutaleb[2] (1981-1982)
- Hossein Abshenasan (1982-1983)
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- ^ Team didn't paly any game while Asqar Sharafi was manager.
- ^ Team didn't paly any game while Parviz Abutaleb was manager.
- ^ Reza Vatankhah never was a manager of Iran but He was a coach for some matches because of Parviz Dehdari's illness.
- ^ Only for three matches.
[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 six months:
[edit] Previous squads
[edit] Most capped players
As of March 24, 2007, 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 March 24, 2007, 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
