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| Full name | Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Âbihai-ye Jinub (Southern Blues) | ||
| Founded | 2011; 14 years ago (2011) | ||
| Ground | Ghadir | ||
| Capacity | 38,900 | ||
| Owner | Iran National Steel Industrial Group | ||
| Manager | Amir Khalifeh-Asl | ||
| League | Persian Gulf Pro League | ||
| 2024–25 | Persian Gulf Pro League 12th | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club (Persian:باشگاه فوتبال استقلال خوزستان,Bašgâh-e Futbâl-e Esteqlâl-e Xuzestân), commonly known asEsteghlal Khuzestan, is an Iranianfootball club based inAhvaz,Iran. The club currently competes in thePersian Gulf Pro League after being promoted from theAzadegan League in the2022–23 season.
This football club is different fromEsteghlal Ahvaz.[1] In 2011 they boughtEsteghlal Jonub's licence to compete in theAzadegan League. They finished2012–13 season in 2nd place of their group and qualified to the promotion play-off. However, they were awarded the direct promotionIRIFF after group's winner,Shahrdari Tabriz's relegation due to match-fixing. They won thePersian Gulf Pro League title in2015–16 season.
Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. was established just before the start of the 2011–2012 season by acquiring the license ofEsteghlal Jonub Tehran F.C. who has just been promoted to theAzadegan League (Iran's 1st division). After an average 6th-place finish in the team's inaugural year in theAzadegan League in 2011–2012, the next season (2012–13) turned out to be a different year, with a 2nd-placed finish in group B, the club was promoted to theIran Pro League for the first time in their history.
In Esteghlal Khuzestan's first year in the top flight, it finished 12th, escaping relegation play-off by better goal difference. In the Hazfi Cup Esteghlal Khuzestan exited the competition in the Round of 32 after a shock defeat toAzadegan League sideAlvand Hamedan. Esteghlal finished the 2014–15 season 14th, meaning it would have to play in a relegation play-off against the winner of theAzadegan League promotion play-off winner. Esteghlal Khuzestan defeatedMes Kerman 3–0 on aggregate meaning it had secured a spot in the 2015–16Persian Gulf Pro League season.
Before the start of the 2015–16 season Esteghlal Khuzestan signed many ofFoolad Novin's players and was a major surprise, as it started well in the season. Esteghlal Khuzestan had four consecutive winning streak at the 12th week, which made Esteghlal Khuzestan finished champion of the first half of the season.[2][3] After a great result withAbdollah Veisi, Esteghlal Khuzestan managed to keep its shape at the second half of the season. On January 1, 2016, Esteghlal Khuzestan lost toPersepolis which made the race tighter for first place, and also made Esteghlal Khuzestan fall to second place,Esteghlal became first after 17th week. The head coach Abdollah Veisi later said that their main goal was to take place atAFC Champions League.[4] Esteghlal Khuzestan qualified to theAFC Champions League on 8 May, for the first time in its history. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the league title on 13 May after a 2–0 win overZob Ahan.
Following a poor start to the following season, 6 points were deduced from Esteghlal Khuzestan byFIFA.Dariush Yazdi was sacked andKarim Boostani replaced the coach. Results ultimately did not improve underBoostani and he was replaced withMohammad Alavi. Esteghlal Khuzestan were relegated from thePersian Gulf Pro League toAzadegan League on 3 May 2019.
| # | Name | Nationality | Position | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohammad Tayyebi |  Iran | Defender | 133 |
| 2 | Hossein Bahrami | Iran | Midfielder | 107 |
| Meysam Doraghi | Iran | Defensive midfielder | 107 | |
| 4 | Ali Helichi | Iran | Midfielder | 100 |
| 5 | Aghil Kaabi | Iran | Defender | 95 |
| 6 | Moussa Coulibaly |  Mali | Defender | 92 |
| 7 | Vahid Sheikhveisi | Iran | Goalkeeper | 87 |
| 8 | Mehdi Momeni | Iran | Forward | 83 |
| 9 | Hadi Khanifar | Iran | Midfielder | 82 |
| 10 | Mojtaba Rashidi | Iran | Forward | 75 |
| # | Name | Nationality | Position | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mojtaba Rashidi | Iran | Forward | 23 |
| 2 | Hassan Beyt Saeed | Iran | Forward | 22 |
| 3 | Ehsan Alvanzadeh | Iran | Forward | 21 |
| 4 | Farshad Janfaza | Iran | Striker | 18 |
| 5 | Javad Aghaeipour | Iran | Forward | 16 |
| 6 | Ali vaziri Panah | Iran | Striker | 15 |
| 7 | Mehdi Momeni | Iran | Forward | 14 |
| Rahim Zahivi | Iran | Forward | 14 | |
| 9 | Hadi Khanifar | Iran | Midfielder | 9 |
| Ali Kiani Far | Iran | Midfielder | 9 |
After the takeover of the club in 2011, the club played its home matches inAhvaz'sTakhti Stadium. After the club promoted to theIran Pro League, it was decided that club continuing to play at Takthi, while big games likePersepolis,Esteghlal andFoolad playing at newly builtGhadir Stadium. In 2015, the club moved to Ghadir permanently, as city rivalsFoolad set to move to itsprivate ground.
The team competes inAhvaz derby against two-timesIran Pro League winnerFoolad.
The table below shows the achievements of the club in various competitions.
| Season | League | Position | Hazfi Cup | Asia | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | Azadegan League | 6th | Round of 32 | did not qualify | |
| 2012–13 | 2nd | ? | Promoted | ||
| 2013–14 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 12th | Round of 32 | ||
| 2014–15 | 14th | Round of 16 | Relegation play-off | ||
| 2015–16 | 1st | Round of 16 | Super Cup | ||
| 2016–17 | 7th | Round of 64 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2017–18 | 12th | Semi-Final | did not qualify | ||
| 2018–19 | 16th | Round of 16 | Relegated | ||
| 2019–20 | Azadegan League | 9th | Did not participate | ||
| 2020–21 | 6th | Did not participate | |||
| 2021–22 | 13th | Third Round | |||
| 2022–23 | 2nd | Round of 32 | Promoted |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | AFC Champions League | Group B |  Al-Fateh | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2nd |
 Al-Jazira | 1–1 | 1–0 | ||||
 Lekhwiya | 1–1 | 1–2 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Al-Hilal | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Staff[5] | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Miodrag Božović |
| Assistant coach | Behrouz Makvandi |
| Goalkeeping coach | Karim Boostani |
| Fitness coach |  Rafael Bispo |
| International manager | Behdad Bayat |
| Doctor | Jalal Heydari |
| Physiotherapist | Sadegh Norouzi |
| Analyzer | Habib Eslami |
| B Team Manager | Behrouz Makvandi |
| Team manager | Afshin Komaei |
| Period | Name | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–2013 | Majid Bagherinia | 52 | 22 | 15 | 15 | 52 | 41 | +11 | Promotion to thePersian Gulf Cup |
| 2013–2016 | Abdollah Veisi | 132 | 55 | 47 | 30 | 142 | 131 | +21 | Azadegan League Persian Gulf Pro League |
| 2016–2017 | Sirous Pourmousavi | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 36 | 34 | +2 | |
| 2017–2018 | Abdollah Veisi | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 36 | -7 | |
| 2018 | Dariush Yazdi | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -10 | |
| 2018–2019 | Karim Boostani | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 11 | -6 | |
| 2019 | Karim Ghanbari (caretaker) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 |
Players who were a member of their national team at International Competitions while playing for Esteghlal Khuzestan.
| Cup | Players |
|---|---|
 2015 Africa Cup of Nations | Soumbeïla Diakité |
| League competitions | |
|---|---|
| Cup competitions | |
| Defunct competitions | |
| National teams | |
| Lists and categories | |
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