Iran national football team

Iran
ایران

Nickname(s)	Team melli (Persian: تیم ملی) "The National Team" Persian Stars Lion Hearts
Association	FFIRI
Confederation	AFC
Head coach	Afshin Ghotbi
Asst coach	Piet Buter
Captain	Javad Nekounam
Most caps	Ali Daei (149)
Top scorer	Ali Daei (109)
Home stadium	Azadi Stadium
FIFA code	IRN
FIFA ranking	64
Highest FIFA ranking	15 (July 2005)
Lowest FIFA ranking	122 (May 1996)
Elo ranking	43
Highest Elo ranking	15 (May 2005)
Lowest Elo ranking	73 (January 1964)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Afghanistan 0 - 0 Iran (Kabul, Afghanistan; August 25, 1941)
Biggest win
Iran 19 - 0 Guam  (Tabriz, Iran; November 24, 2000[1])
Biggest defeat
Turkey 6 - 1 Iran (Istanbul, Turkey; May 28, 1950)  Korea Republic 5 - 0 Iran (Tokyo, Japan; May 28, 1958)  Hungary 5 - 0 Iran (Nuremberg, Germany; August 27, 1972)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1978)
Best result	Round 1, 1978, 1998, 2006
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances	11 (First in 1968)
Best result	Winners, 1968, 1972, 1976

The national football team of Iran (Persian: تیم ملی فوتبال ایران) represents Iran in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The national football team of Iran, known as the Team Melli, ranks 4th in Asia and 65th in the world according to the current FIFA World Rankings.^[2]

History

Early years

The very first match that the Team Melli played was on August 25, 1941 away at Afghanistan.

Iran has won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976), a championship record to which the team has not been able to add since, although they have finished third four times.

1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina

In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran to qualify. Iran lost two of their three group stage games against the Netherlands and Peru.^[3] However, they managed to create a surprise^[4] by drawing 1-1 against Scotland with a late Iraj Danaeifard goal.^[5]

After Revolution

After the 1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside. During the 1980s, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to the Iran–Iraq War (1980-88) and domestic football suffered the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup, and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup 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. Despite failing to qualify for either the 1990 or the 1994 World Cups, it was during this period that a number of quality players burst onto the Iranian football scene, laying the foundation for their second stab at World Cup glory in 1998.^[6] Iran could count on new talents such as Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri.

1998 FIFA World Cup in France

Additional information: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (play-off AFC-OFC)

Additional information: 1998 FIFA World Cup - Group F

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.^[7]

At their first game of the Group F at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Iran played well against Yugoslavia, losing narrowly 1-0, only to a free kick goal by Mihajlović.^[6]

Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game,^[5] beating the United States 2-1, with Estili and Mahdavikia scoring goals for Iran. 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.^[8] Following defeat with Iran the United States were eliminated from the World Cup.^[9]

Iran played against Germany in the third game. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Bierhoff and Klinsmann.^[10] The one win and two losses meant Iran became third in the final group standing and failed to make it to the next round.^[11]

2002 FIFA World Cup

Additional information: 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Iran failed to qualify for World Cup 2002 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.

2006 FIFA-World Cup in Germany

Iran score against Angola during a 2006 FIFA World Cup match.

Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding

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.

Iran started their 2006 FIFA World Cup appearance with high expectations from fans and media. Their first match was against Mexico in Group D. The game was level 1-1 at the half-time, but Iran lost at the end because of a defensive mistake. The final score, 3-1, was brought about by goals from Omar Bravo and Zinha for Mexico, with Yahya Golmohammadi scoring the only Iran goal.

Iran played against Portugal in the second game. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo (penalty). The two losses meant Iran was eliminated from the competition, before their third and final game against Angola. Iran drew 1-1 with Angola on the 21st of June 2006, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh scoring the Iran goal.

Temporary Suspension

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.^[12] The ban lasted less than a month,^[13] and as a dispensation was given to allow the Iran under-23 team to participate in the football competition of the 2006 Asian Games,^[14] fixtures were unaffected.

2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Additional information: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Fourth Round

Iran was in the same FIFA World Cup qualifying group as Kuwait, Syria and United Arab Emirates. They played home and away against each of the other three teams in group 5. Ali Daei was chosen to become the new coach after Spanish coach Javier Clemente had been close to signing on as Iran's national team manager but talks collapsed when he refused to live full time in the country.^[15] Ali Daei got ejected from his position as the Iranian national coach on March 29, 2009.^[16] He was replaced by Afshin Ghotbi. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after ranking 4th overall in its group.^[17]

Iran renewed the contract with Afshin Ghotbi till the end of 2011 AFC Asian Cup and the team qualified to the tournament with 13 points as the group winners.

2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iran	6	4	1	1	11	2	+9	13
Jordan	6	2	2	2	4	4	0	8
Thailand	6	1	3	2	3	3	0	6
Singapore	6	2	0	4	6	15	−9	6

Political Protests

Bahrain-Iran, 21 October 2001

The 3-1 defeat by Bahrain came as a surprise. There were allegations that the authorities pressured the players to lose. It was later denied by Safaei.^[18]

Presidential Election Protests, 2009

During the final game of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against the South Korean national football team held in Seoul on June 17, 2009, seven members of the team, Javad Nekounam, Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Kaebi, Masoud Shojaei, Mohammad Nosrati, and Vahid Hashemian, wore green wristbands in support of the opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi in the 2009 Iranian election protests.

Home stadium

Azadi Stadium

Iran play their home games at Azadi (Freedom) Stadium which was built in the mid 1970s with a capacity of over 100,000. A record was set in Azadi for the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign in Iran's home match against Japan, in which the whole stadium was filled. The government restricts Iranian women from attending football matches such as the ones held in Azadi stadium.

Kit

Iran's current jersey is provided by Legea. The table below shows the history of kit providers for the national football team of Iran.

Media coverage

Iran home matches (both qualifiers and friendlies) are shown live on Channel 3 and satellite television network Jame Jam 2. All matches are broadcasted with full commentary.

Tournament records

World Cup record

World Cup Finals											World Cup Qualifications
Hosts/Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Squad		GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1970	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		8	5	1	2	9	6
1978	Round 1	14th	3	0	1	2	2	8	Squad		12	10	2	0	20	3
1982	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Disqualified	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	5	0	1	12	5
1994	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		11	5	3	3	23	13
1998	Round 1	20th	3	1	0	2	2	4	Squad		17	8	6	3	57	17
| 2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		14	9	3	2	36	9
2006	Round 1	25th	3	0	1	2	2	6	Squad		12	9	1	2	29	7
2010	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		14	5	8	1	15	9
Total	-	3/19	9	1	2	6	6	18	-		94	56	24	14	201	69

Olympic Games record

Olympic Games Finals										Olympic Games Qualifications
Hosts/Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Squad		GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
National Team
1900 to 1960	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1964	Round 1	3	0	1	2	1	6	Squad	6	4	1	1	14	3
1968	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Round 1	3	1	0	2	1	9	Squad	5	3	2	0	6	0
1976	Quarter Finals	3	1	0	2	4	5	Squad	4	3	1	0	8	1
1980	Qualified but boycotted the event	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	3	2	0	18	2
1984	Did not enter due to boycott	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1988	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	0	1	2	2
Total	Best: Quarter Finals	9	2	1	6	6	20	-	22	14	6	2	48	8
Youth teams
1992	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	5	2	1	19	6
1996	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	1	1	9	4
2000	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	1	1	2	3	6
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	3	0	3	22	9
2008	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	1	2	3	6	7
Total		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	12	6	10	59	32
Total (including youth teams)	3/24	9	2	1	6	6	20	-	50	26	12	12	107	40

Asian Cup record

AFC Asian Cup Finals									Asian Cup Qualifications
Hosts/Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA		GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1956	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
1960	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	3	1	2	12	10
1964	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Champions	4	4	0	0	11	2		Automatic qualification as hosts
1972	Champions	5	5	0	0	12	4		Automatic qualification as champions
1976	Champions	4	4	0	0	13	0		Automatic qualification as hosts
1980	Third place	6	3	2	1	16	6		Automatic qualification as champions
1984	Fourth place	6	2	4	0	8	3		5	5	0	0	21	2
1988	Third place	6	2	2	2	3	4		4	2	2	0	6	1
1992	Round 1	3	1	1	1	2	1		2	2	0	0	10	0
1996	Third place	6	3	2	1	14	6		6	6	0	0	27	1
2000	Quarterfinals	4	2	1	1	7	3		6	4	1	1	16	2
2004	Third place	6	3	3	0	14	8		6	5	0	1	16	5
2007	Quarterfinals	4	2	2	0	6	3		6	4	2	0	12	2
2011	Qualified	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	4	1	1	11	2
Total	3 Titles	54	31	17	6	106	40		47	35	7	5	131	25

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
*Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Asian Games record

Host nation(s) / Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
National Team
New Delhi 1951	Runners-Up	3	2	0	1	2	1
Manila 1954	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tokyo 1958	Round 1	2	0	0	2	0	9
Jakarta 1962	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bangkok 1966	Runners-Up	7	4	0	3	9	6
Bangkok 1970	Round 1	2	0	1	1	2	3
Tehran 1974	Champions	7	7	0	0	20	1
Bangkok 1978	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-
New Delhi 1982	Quarterfinals	4	2	0	2	3	2
Seoul 1986	Quarterfinals	5	3	1	1	13	2
Beijing 1990	Champions	5	4	1	0	7	1
Hirosima 1994	Round 1	4	1	2	1	5	2
Bangkok 1998	Champions	8	7	0	1	25	7
Total	3 Titles	47	30	5	12	86	34
Youth teams
Busan 2002	Champions	6	4	2	0	16	2
Doha 2006	Third place	6	4	1	1	10	6
Guangzhou 2010	Qualified
Total	1 Titles	12	8	3	1	26	8
Total (including youth teams)	13/16	59	38	8	13	112	42

West Asian Football Federation Championship record

Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GS	GA
2000	Champions	5	4	1	0	7	1
2002	Third Place	4	1	2	1	4	3
2004	Champions	4	4	0	0	17	3
2007	Champions	4	3	1	0	5	1
2008	Champions	4	4	0	0	13	2
2010	Qualified	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	4 Titles	21	16	4	1	46	10

RCD Cup/ECO Cup record

Year	Round
1965	Champions
1967	Runners-Up
1969	Runners-Up
1970	Champions
1974	Runners-Up see Malavan F.C.
1993	Champions

West Asian Games

Year	Round
1997	Champions
2002	Runners-Up
2005	Third place
2010	Qualified

Results and fixtures

see Iran national football team results

Previous matches

Matches from the past six months as well as any future scheduled matches.

Datee	Venue	Opponent	Competition	Result	Iranian scorers
January 2, 2010	Doha	Korea DPR	Qatar Friendship Cup	1-0 W	42' Madanchi
January 6, 2010	Kallang	Singapore	2011 ACQ	3-1 W	11'Aghili, 13' Madanchi,70' Rezaei
March 3, 2010	Tehran	Thailand	2011 ACQ	1-0 W	89' Nekounam
August 11 , 2010	Yerevan	Armenia	Friendly	3-1 W	65',93 Aghili , 68' Nosrati
September 3 , 2010	Zhengzhou	China PR	Friendly	2-0 W	39' Teymourian , 54' Gholami
September 7 , 2010	Seoul	Korea Republic	Friendly	1-0 W	35' Shojaei

Forthcoming matches

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent
24 September 2010	WAFF 2010	Amman International Stadium, Jordan	Bahrain
28 September 2010	WAFF 2010	Amman International Stadium, Jordan	Oman
11 January 2011	2011 Asian Cup	Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Qatar	Iraq
15 January 2011	2011 Asian Cup	Qatar SC Stadium, Qatar	Korea DPR
19 January 2011	2011 Asian Cup	Qatar SC Stadium, Qatar	United Arab Emirates

Records versus other nations

Managers

#	Name	Nat	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Honours
1	Sadaghiani		Aug 1941–Sep 1948	3	0	2	1
2	Alfred James Gibel		Sep 1948–Sep 1949	0	0	0	0
3	Sadaghiani		Sep 1949–Dec 1950	4	2	1	1
4	Mostafa Salimi		Jan 1951–Mar 1956	5	2	2	1	Silver Medal at 1951 Asian Games
5	Masayufskei		Mar 1956– Aug 1957	0	0	0	0
6	Ferenc Mészáros		Aug 1957– Dec 1959	8	3	1	4
7	Hossein Fekri		Dec 1961– Mar 1966	19	9	5	5	Qualification to 1964 Summer Olympics
8	György Szűcs		Mar 1966– Dec 1966	7	4	0	3	Silver Medal at 1966 Asian Games
9	Hossein Fekri		Jan 1967–Feb 1968	2	1	0	1
10	Mahmoud Bayati		Mar 1968–Jun 1968	4	4	0	0	Winner of 1968 Asian Cup
11	Zdravko Rajkov		Jul 1968– May 1970	4	3	0	1
12	Mohammad Bayati		Jun 1970–Sep 1970	2	1	1	0
13	Igor Netto		Oct 1970– Dec 1970	2	0	1	1
14	Parviz Dehdari		Jan 1971– Apr 1972	5	3	1	1	Winner of 1971 Cyrus International Tournament
15	Ranjbar		May 1972- Jun 1972	12	6	3	3	Winner of 1972 Asian Cup
16	Mahmoud Bayati		Jul 1972– Mar 1974	14	7	2	5
17	Frank O'Farrell		Apr 1974– Apr 1976	15	10	3	2	Gold Medal at 1974 Asian Games, Winner of 1974 Iran International Tournament, Qualification to 1976 Summer Olympics
18	Mohajerani		5 May 1976– Dec 1978	35	17	10	8	Winner of 1976 Asian Cup, Quarter Finals of 1976 Summer Olympics, Qualification to 1978 WC
19	Habibi		Nov 1979– Oct 1980	14	9	4	1	Qualification to 1980 Summer Olympics,Third place at 1980 Asian Cup
20	Asghar Sharafi		Nov 1980- Aug 1981	0	0	0	0
21	Parviz Aboutaleb		Sep 1981- Mar 1982	6	5	1	0
22	Naser Ebrahimi		Apr 1982- Sep 1982	0	0	0	0
23	Jalal Cheraghpour		Oct 1982- May 1983	4	2	0	2
24	Ahmad Tousi		Jun 1983- Mar 1984	0	0	0	0
25	Mahmoud Yavari		Apr 1984- Oct 1984	7	6	0	1
26	Nasser Ebrahimi		Oct 1984– Feb 1985	10	4	4	2	Fourth place at 1984 Asian Cup
27	Asgharzadeh		Mar 1985– Mar 1986	2	2	0	0
28	Parviz Dehdari		Apr 1986– Oct 1987	8	4	1	3
29	Mahmoud Yavari		Nov 1987	0	0	0	0
30	Parviz Dehdari		Nov 1987-Feb 1989	11	4	5	2	Third place at 1988 Asian Cup
31	Reza Vatankhah		Mar 1989 -Apr 1989	3	3	0	0
32	Mehdi Monajati		May 1989 - Sep 1989	3	2	0	1
33	Ali Parvin		Oct 1989– Nov 1993	38	18	11	9	Gold Medal at 1990 Asian Games, Winner of ECO Cup 1993
34	Stanko Poklepović		Apr 1994– Oct 1994	4	1	2	1
35	Hassan Habibi		Mar 1994- Oct 1995	0	0	0	0
36	Mayeli Kohan		Mar 1995– Nov 1997	40	24	10	6	Third place at 1996 Asian Cup
37	Viera ( Temp)		Nov 1997 - Dec 1997	3	0	2	1	Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup
38	Tomislav Ivić		Jan 1998 - May 1998	5	1	2	2
39	Jalal Talebi		May 1998 - Aug 1998	4	1	0	3	Iran's historical first win at the FIFA World Cup
40	Pourheidari		Sep 1998 - Feb 2000	19	10	6	3	Gold Medal at 1998 Asian Games
41	Jalal Talebi		Mar 2000 - Oct 2000	20	13	5	3	Quarterfinals at 2000 Asian Cup, Winner of 2000 WAFF
42	Braga (Temp)		Nov 2000 - Feb 2001	3	3	0	0
43	Miroslav Blažević		Mar 2001 - Nov 2001	19	10	4	5
44	Branko Ivanković		Feb 2002 - Sep 2002	9	4	3	2
45	Shahrokhi		Feb 2003 - Sep 2003	6	2	1	3
46	Branko Ivanković		Oct 2003 - Jul 2006	41	28	6	7	Winner of 2004 WAFF, Third place at 2004 Asian Cup, Qualification to 2006 WC
47	Zolfagharnasab (B Team)		9 April 2005 - 20 April 2005	6	3	3	0	Third place at 2005 Islamic Solidarity Games
48	Amir Ghalenoei		16 Jul 2006 -Sep 2007	21	13	7	1	Quarterfinals at 2007 Asian Cup
49	Mazlomi (B Team)		16 June 2007 - 24 June 2007	4	3	1	0	Winner of 2007 WAFF Championship,
50	Ebrahimzadeh (Temp)		Jan 2008 - 7 Mar 2008	3	0	3	0
51	Ali Daei		3 Mar 2008 - 8 Mar 2009	24	15	6	3	Winner of 2008 WAFF Championship
52	Rutemöller (temp)		29 Mar 2009 - 5 Apr 2009	1	0	1	0
53	Mayeli Kohan		5 April 2009– 22 April 2009	0	0	0	0
54	Afshin Ghotbi		22 Apr 2009 -	19	10	4	5
	Total		August 1941 - Present	499	272	124	103

Coaching Staff

Head Coach	Afshin Ghotbi
Assistant Coach	Piet Buter
Assistant Coach	Alireza Mansourian
Goalkeeping Coach	Mansour Rashidi
Adviser	Morteza Mohasses
Physiotherapist	Jan Langalon
Team Doctors	Dr. Parham Khanlari and Dr. Shahab
Team Manager	Asghar Hajiloo

Players

24 Players for the Korea Republic Friendly.

Current squad

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Mehdi Rahmati 2 February 1983 (1983-02-02) (age 28) 47 0 Sepahan GK Alireza Haghighi 2 May 1988 (1988-05-02) (age 22) 0 0 Persepolis 22 GK Ebrahim Mirzapour 16 September 1978 (1978-09-16) (age 32) 74 0 Paykan 2 DF Khosro Heydari 14 September 1983 (1983 -09-14) (age 27) 17 0 Sepahan 4 DF Jalal Hosseini 3 February 1982 (1982-02-03) (age 29) 47 2 Sepahan 15 DF Hanif Omranzadeh 30 April 1985 (1985-04-30) (age 25) 1 0 Esteghlal 20 DF Mohammad Nosrati 10 January 1982 (1982-01-10) (age 29) 70 5 Tractor Sazi 5 DF Hadi Aghili 15 January 1981 (1981-01-15) (age 30) 46 6 Sepahan DF Hassan Ashjari 18 February 1979 (1979-02-18) (age 31) 13 0 Steel Azin DF Hashem Beikzadeh 22 January 1984 (1984-01-22) (age 27) 11 1 Sepahan 6 MF Javad Nekounam 7 September 1980 (1980-09-07) (age 30) 112 25 Osasuna 8 MF Milad Zanidpour 21 March 1986 (1986-03-21) (age 24) 8 1 Steel Azin 23 MF Iman Mobali 3 November 1982 (1982-11-03) (age 28) 50 1 Esteghlal 24 MF Ehsan Hajsafi 25 February 1990 (1990-02-25) (age 20) 24 2 Sepahan MF Mohammad Nouri 9 January 1983 (1983-01-09) (age 28) 11 3 Persepolis 18 MF Pejman Nouri 13 July 1980 (1980-07-13) (age 30) 25 2 Malavan 14 MF Andranik Teymourian 6 March 1983 (1983-03-06) (age 27) 47 5 Free Agent 7 MF Masoud Shojaei 9 June 1984 (1984-06-09) (age 26) 31 4 Osasuna 21 FW Gholamreza Rezaei 6 May 1984 (1984-05-06) (age 26) 31 8 Persepolis 10 FW Karim Ansarifard 3 April 1990 (1990-04-03) (age 20) 11 2 Saipa 16 FW Hadi Norouzi 19 July 1985 (1985-07-19) (age 25) 5 0 Persepolis 9 FW Mohammad Reza Khalatbari 14 September 1983 (1983-09-14) (age 27) 29 0 Zob Ahan 26 FW Mehrdad Oladi 25 May 1985 (1985-05-25) (age 25) 2 0 Malavan 17 FW Mohammad Gholami 13 February 1983 (1983-02-13) (age 28) 2 1 Steel Azin

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Iran squad within the last twelve months:

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
Goalkeepers
Memarzadeh	9 January 1983 (1983-01-09) (age 28)	Foolad	0 (0)	v -	v Iceland, 10 November 2009
Talebloo	26 May 1982 (1982-05-26) (age 28)	Esteghlal	13 (0)	v Chinese Taipei 26 February 2006	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Makani	18 November 1986 (1986-11-18) (age 24)	Steel Azin	0 (0)	v -	v Thailand, 3 March 2010
Defenders
Kaebi	23 September 1985 (1985-09-23) (age 25)	Steel Azin	89 (2)	v, 2002	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Sadeghi	6 September 1981 (1981-09-06) (age 29)	Esteghlal	9 (0)	v , 2005	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Heidari	19 June 1980 (1980-06-19) (age 30)	Persepolis	3 (0)	v Iraq, June 2007	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Talebi	24 August 1981 (1981-08-24) (age 29)	Zob Ahan	1 (0)	v Uzbekitan, 6 September 2009	v Thailand, 3 March 2010
Mohammad	14 July 1981 (1981-07-14) (age 29)	Persepolis	3 (0)	v China, 1 June 2009	v Thailand, 3 March 2010
Feshangchi	7 January 1987 (1987-01-07) (age 24)	Persepolis	2 (0)	v Iceland, 10 November 2009	v Armenia, 11 August 2010
Hosseini	22 June 1979 (1979-06-22) (age 31)	Zob Ahan	1 (0)	v Armenia, 11 August 2010	v Armenia, 11 August 2010
Midfielders
Kazemian	23 April 1981 (1981-04-23) (age 29)	Sepahan	41 (2)	v China, January 2001	v Jordan, 14 November 2009
Mohebi	24 February 1981 (1981-02-24) (age 29)	Pas	0 (0)	v -	v Iceland, 10 November 2009
Gholamnejad	18 June 1983 (1983-06-18) (age 27)	Saipa	17 (1)	v Bahrain,March 2008	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Zandi	26 April 1979 (1979-04-26) (age 31)	Steel Azin	29 (5)	v Bahrain, February 2005	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Karimi	26 April 1979 (1979-04-26) (age 31)	Steel Azin	112 (36)	v Kuwait, October 1998	v Thailand, 3 March 2010
Madanchi	10 January 1985 (1985-01-10) (age 26)	Steel Azin	42 (8)	v Belarus, August 2003	v Thailand, 3 March 2010
Aliasgari	25 May 1990 (1990-05-25) (age 20)	Persepolis	1 (0)	v Armenia, 11 August 2010	v Armenia, 11 August 2010
Hadadifar	12 July 1983 (1983-07-12) (age 27)	Zob Ahan	1 (0)	v Armenia, 11 August 2010	v Armenia, 11 August 2010
Ashoubi	6 April 1980 (1980-04-06) (age 30)	Esteghlal	7 (0)	v Iraq, June 2007	v China, 3 September 2010
Strikers
Zarei	1 January 1984 (1984-01-01) (age 27)	Persepolis	2 (0)	v Bahrain, August 31, 2009	v Jordan, November 22, 2009
Majidi	3 June 1977 (1977-06-03) (age 33)	Esteghlal	43 (10)	v ,1996	v Jordan, 14 November 2009
Borhani	14 September 1983 (1983-09-14) (age 27)	Esteghlal	36 (10)	v ,2004	v Jordan, 14 November 2009
Khalili	14 February 1981 (1981-02-14) (age 30)	Steel Azin	12 (1)	v Cota Rica ,January 2008	v Singapore, 6 January 2010
Meydavoudi	1 January 1985 (1985-01-01) (age 26)	Esteghlal	19 (3)	v Iraq , June 2007	v Armenia, 11 August 2010

Previous squads

World Cups

• World Cup 2006 squad
• World Cup 1998 squad
• World Cup 1978 squad

Andranik Taymourian

Asian Cups

• Asian Cup 2007 squad
• Asian Cup 2004 squad
• Asian Cup 2000 squad
• Asian Cup 1996 squad
• Asian Cup 1992 squad

See also Category:Iran international footballers

Most capped players

As of 7 September 2010^[update], 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.

Top goalscorers

As of 7 September 2010^[update], 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.

Iran captains

As of 7 September 2010

Iran World Cup captains

Iran Asian Cup captains

Honours

Asian Cup: 3 Times

• • 1968, 1972, 1976

Asian Games: 4 Times

• • 1974, 1990, 1998, 2002

West Asian Football Federation Championship: 4 Times

• • 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008

See also

• Football in Iran
• Iran national futsal team
• Iran national under-23 football team
• Iran women's national football team

References

External links

• Official Website of IR Iran Football Federation
• Iran Soccer News
• Extensive archive of Team's results, squads, campaigns and players
• RSSSF archive of results 1941-
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• Iran's archive of results and elo rating points

Preceded by 1964 Israel	Asian Champions 1968 (First title) 1972 (Second title) 1976 (Third title)	Succeeded by 1980 Kuwait
Preceded by Myanmar Korea Republic	Asian Games Champions 1974 (First title)	Succeeded by Korea DPR Korea Republic
Preceded by Korea Republic	Asian Games Champions 1990 (Second title)	Succeeded by Uzbekistan
Preceded by Uzbekistan	Asian Games Champions 1998 (Third title) 2002 (Fourth title)	Succeeded by Qatar
Preceded by Inaugural Champions	WAFF Champions 2000(First title)	Succeeded by 2002 Iraq
Preceded by 2002 Iraq	WAFF Champions 2004 (Second title) 2007 (Third title) 2008 (Fourth title)	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Inaugural Champions	ECO Cup Champions 1965 (First title)	Succeeded by 1967 Turkey
Preceded by 1969 Turkey	ECO Cup Champions 1970 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1974 Turkey
Preceded by 1974 Turkey	ECO Cup Champions 1993 (Third title)	Succeeded by Last edition

Olympics Squads Navigation Boxes

Iran squad – 1964 Summer Olympics 1 Asli • 2 Amir Asefi • 3 Mirzai • 4 Arab • 5 Habibi • 6 Latifi • 7 Saedi • 8 Jamali • 9 Talebi • 10 Nourian • 11 Khodaparast • 12 Nirlou • 13 Fanai • 14 Esmaili • 15 Mostafavi • 16 Ghelichkhani • 17 Biati Eslam • Coach: Fekri Iran squad – 1972 Summer Olympics 1 Ghoflsaz • 2 Ashtiani • 3 Kashani • 4 Halvaei • 5 Kagarjam • 6 Ghelichkhani • 7 Parvin • 8 Jabari • 9 Sadeghi • 10 Iranpak • 11 Sharafi • 12 Vafakhah • 13 Ghorab • 14 Khordbin • 15 Lavasani • 16 Azizi • 17 Allahverdi • 18 Monajati • 19 Rashidi • Coach: Ranjbar Iran squad – 1976 Summer Olympics 1 Rashidi • 2 Nazari • 3 Eskandarian • 4 Zolfagharnassab • 5 Ghelichkhani • 6 Ghasempour • 7 Parvin • 8 Abdollahi • 9 Nouraei • 10 Rowshan • 11 Khorshidi • 12 Nayebagha • 13 Mazloomi • 14 Mirfakhraei • 15 Jahani • 16 Azizi • 17 Hejazi • Coach: Mohajerani

FIFA World Cup Squads Navigation Boxes

Iran squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup 1 Hejazi • 2 Danaeifard • 3 Fariba • 4 Bishkar • 5 Allahverdi • 6 Nayebagha • 7 Parvin • 8 Ghasempour • 9 Sadeghi • 10 Roshan • 11 Ghesghayan • 12 Mavaddat • 13 Majd Teymouri • 14 Nazari • 15 Eskandarian • 16 Nouraei • 17 Jahani • 18 Faraki • 19 Shojaei • 20 Abdollahi • 21 Kazerani • 22 Korbekandi • Coach: Mohajerani Iran squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Abedzadeh • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Saadavi • 4 Khakpour • 5 Peyrovani • 6 Bagheri • 7 Mansourian • 8 Dinmohammadi • 9 Estili • 10 Daei • 11 Azizi • 12 Nakisa • 13 Latifi • 14 Mohammadkhani • 15 Ostad‑Asadi • 16 Shahroudi • 17 Zarincheh • 18 Hamedani • 19 Seraj • 20 Pashazadeh • 21 Minavand • 22 Broumand • Coach: Talebi Iran squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Bakhtiarizadeh • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Daei (c) • 11 Khatibi • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Teymourian • 15 Borhani • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Navidkia • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 21 Madanchi • 22 Talebloo • 23 Shojaei • Coach: Ivanković

AFC Asian Cup Squads Navigation Boxes

Iran squad – 1976 AFC Asian Cup Winners (2nd Title) GK Rashidi • GK Asgarkhani • DF Nazari • DF Zolfagharnasab • DF Abdollahi • DF Eskandarian • DF Nayebagha • DF Mirfakhrae • MF Parvin • MF Ghelichkhani • MF Ghasempour • MF Sadeghi • MF Azizi • MF Shahbandari • FW Khorshidi • FW Nouraei • FW Mazloomi • FW Rowshan • Coach: Mohajerani Iran squad – 1992 AFC Asian Cup GK Abedzadeh • DF Zarincheh • DF Moharrami • DF Hassanzadeh • DF Mohammadkhani • MF Fonoonizadeh • MF Ghayeghran • MF Abtahi • FW Shahmohammadi • FW Kermani-Moghaddam • FW Pious • FW Marfavi • FW Ashoori • MF Bayani • FW Modir Roosta • MF Estili • DF Khakpour • GK Gholampour • GK Ghelich • Coach: Parvin Iran squad – 1996 AFC Asian Cup Third Place GK Abedzadeh • DF Saadavi • DF Ostad-Asadi • MF Bagheri • DF Peyrovani • MF Dinmohammadi • MF Mansourian • DF Moharrami  • MF Estili • FW Daei • FW Azizi • MF Mahdavikia • DF Khakpour • DF Falahatzadeh • FW Yousefi • MF Yazdani • MF Mousavi • GK Nakisa • MF Mirzaostovari • MF Minavand • Coach: Mayelikohan Iran squad – 2000 AFC Asian Cup MF Mahdavikia • DF Hasheminasab • DF Bakhtiarizadeh • MF Bagheri • MF Kavianpour • MF Hamedani • MF Estili • FW Daei • FW Azizi • GK Broumand • MF Seyed Abbasi • DF Navazi • FW Halali • FW Hashemian • MF Emamifar • MF Yazdani • FW Karimi • DF Rahbarifar • GK Fanaei • GK Vaezi • MF Minavand • DF Mahdavi • Coach: Talebi Iran squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup Third Place 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Amirabadi • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Kavianpour • 8 Karimi • 10 Daei • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Borhani • 15 Taghipour • 16 Enayati • 17 Mobali • 18 Badavi • 19 Kameli • 20 Nosrati • 21 Rahmati • 26 Alavi • 27 Zare • 29 Majidi • Coach: Ivanković Iran squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Roudbarian • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadeghi • 4 Teymourian • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Khatibi • 11 Madanchi • 12 Hosseini • 13 Kaebi • 14 Mobali • 15 Aghili • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Rajabzadeh • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 22 Talebloo • 24 Shojaei • 30 Rahmati • Coach: Ghalenoei

National sports teams of Iran Baseball · Basketball (M, M U19, M U17, W)  · Boxing · Cricket · Field Hockey (M, W) · Football (M, M U23, M U20, M U17, W, Beach)  · Futsal (M, W) Handball (M, W) · Rugby Union · Kabaddi  · Tennis (M, W) · Volleyball (M, M U21, M U19, W)  · Water Polo · Wrestling (FS, GR) Olympics · Paralympics · Asian Games

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