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The very first Iran football team that traveled toBaku in 1926
TheIranian Football Federation was founded in 1920.[12] In 1926,Tehran XI (selected players fromTehran Club,Toofan, andArmenian Sports Club) traveled across the border toBaku, Soviet Union; 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 thatTeam Melli played was on 23 August 1941, away atKabul in a 1–0 win againstBritish India while Iran's firstFIFA international match was on 25 August 1941, away atAfghanistan.[7]
After theIranian Revolution, football was somewhat neglected. During the1980s, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to theIran–Iraq War (1980–88) and domestic football embraced the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the1982 FIFA World Cup and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the1986 FIFA World Cup because of having to play on neutral ground. The war and political upheavals left Iran without major club competitions until 1989 when theQods League was established. A year later, the Qods League was renamed theAzadegan League. Despite failing to qualify for both the1990 and1994 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 the1996 AFC Asian Cup (victories in that tournament included a 3–0 victory againstSaudi Arabia and a 6–2 victory againstSouth Korea) and their second stab at World Cup glory in1998.[16]
On 29 November 1997, Iran qualified for the1998 FIFA World Cup after eliminatingAustralia in a close playoff series. After being tied 3–3 on aggregate, Iran advanced due to theaway goals rule; Iran held Australia to a 1–1 draw at home, and a 2–2 draw inMelbourne.[17]
At their first game at the1998 FIFA World Cup against Yugoslavia, Iran lost 1–0 to a free kick bySiniša Mihajlović.[16] Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game[15] beating and eliminating theUnited States 2–1 withHamid Estili andMehdi Mahdavikia scoring goals for Iran. TheIran-US World Cup match was preheated with certain excitement because of each country's political stance after theIranian revolution and theIran 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.[18] Iran played againstGermany in the third game, losing 2–0 courtesy of goals fromOliver Bierhoff andJürgen Klinsmann, finishing third in the group with 3 points.[19]
After qualifying to the2004 AFC Asian Cup, Iran was drawn withThailand,Oman andJapan in the tournament. Iran finished second in the group. In the quarter-final clash againstSouth Korea, Iran won 4–3. They then lost to hostChina on penalty kicks, and won againstBahrain 4–2 to finish third place in the tournament.
On 8 June 2005, Iran andJapan became the first countries other than hostsGermany to qualify for the2006 FIFA World Cup. The match between the two countries 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 theAzadi Stadium at the end of the match.[20]
Iran started their 2006 FIFA World Cup appearance in Germany with a match against North America'sMexico inGroup D. Being 1–1 at half-time, defensive mistakes led to a Mexican 3–1 win, with goals fromOmar Bravo andSinha.Yahya Golmohammadi scored the only Iranian goal. Team Melli played againstPortugal in the second game, losing 2–0. The goals were scored byDeco and a penalty fromCristiano Ronaldo. Iran were eliminated from the competition before their third and final game againstAngola, a 1–1 draw.
In November 2006, Iran was suspended byFIFA from all participation in international football on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association.[21] The ban lasted less than a month[22] and as a dispensation was given to allow theIran under-23 team to participate in thefootball competition of the2006 Asian Games,[23] fixtures were unaffected.
TheIRIFF appointedAmir Ghalenoei as manager of Iran on 17 July 2006 to succeedBranko Ivanković. After finishing first in the2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifying round two points ahead ofSouth 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. His contract was not renewed and Team Melli was left with a caretaker manager for several months.
Then-leading international goalscorerAli Daei was chosen to become the new manager after Spanish coachJavier 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.[24] Iran was placed withKuwait,Syria andUnited Arab Emirates in the third round of2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Ali Daei resigned from his position as the Iranian national coach on 29 March 2009,[25] replaced byAfshin Ghotbi. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after finishing fourth overall in its group.[26]
During the final game of the2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers againstSouth Korea inSeoul on 17 June 2009, seven members of the team wore green wristbands in support of theIranian Green Movement during the2009 Iranian election protests. Initial rumors and false reports were that all seven players were banned for life by theIranian Football Federation, however, state-run media claimed that all seven had "retired".[27][28] On 24 June 2009, FIFA 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.[29]
Afshin Ghotbi qualified Iran for the 2011 Asian Cup and finished second in the2010 WAFF Championship 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.
Iran started the 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 captainJavad Nekounam. After a 1–0 loss in Tehran against Uzbekistan, Iran defeated Qatar 1–0 inDoha and Lebanon 4–0 at home. In their last qualification match, Iran defeated South Korea 1–0 inUlsan 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 the2002 edition withSouth Africa and the2010 edition withPortugal, leading the latter to a knockout stage finish. Iran continued their winning streak, securingqualification to the2015 Asian Cup months later as well.[35]
In the opening match of the tournament on 16 June, Iran drewNigeria 0–0 making it their first clean sheet in the World Cup.[39] In their next match, Iran wasdefeated byArgentina 1–0 with a late goal fromLionel Messi and received praise after holding Argentina for 90 minutes while creating some attacking opportunities of their own.[40] Iran was eliminated from the tournament in their next game, a 3–1 defeat toBosnia and Herzegovina. Iran's lone goal was scored byReza Ghoochannejhad.[41] After the tournament, Queiroz declared he would resign as manager of Iran but later switched and extended his contract until the2018 FIFA World Cup.[42]
Iran qualified for the2015 AFC Asian Cup asgroup winners where Team Melli were the highestrankedseed.[43] Iran facedBahrain,Qatar and theUAE inGroup C. With the second highest number of fans in the tournament after hostsAustralia, the Iranians defeated Bahrain 2–0 with limited preparations.[44][45] A defensive-minded Iran then defeated Qatar 1–0 thanks to aSardar Azmoun goal before defeating UAE by the same scoreline to reach the top of their group.[46][47] In thequarter-finals Iran facedIraq who they had beaten weeks prior in afriendly match. Having received a controversialred card in the first half, Iran competed with ten men, managing to score goals late inextra time to draw the match 3–3. In the ensuingpenalty shootout, Iran lost 7–6.[48][49]
Iran won the first match againstMorocco afterAziz Bouhaddouz scoring an own goal.[58] They then lost againstSpain with a goal scored byDiego Costa, withvideo assistant referees denying an Iranian equalizer.[59] The third match againstPortugal ended in a draw after apenalty scored byKarim Ansarifard in the stoppage time, whileCristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty when Iran was trailing, withAlireza Beiranvand making a decisive save[60] and because Morocco could only manage a 2–2 draw to Spain, Iran were eliminated.[61] Iran's four points is the most received in any World Cup appearance.
Having qualified for the2019 AFC Asian Cup earlier, Iran was drawn intogroup D, where they shared fate withIraq,Vietnam andYemen. Iran opened their tournament against Yemen, nearly conceding a goal early but after 10 minutes, Iran regained the ground and proved more dominant in certain aspects, thrashing Yemen 5–0.[62] A 2–0 win over the Vietnamese side gave Iran direct qualification to the knockout stage.[63] Iran ended their group stage with a goalless draw over neighbor Iraq and took first place.[64] After the group stage, Iran encounteredOman, with a defending mistake almost costing Iran's chances butAhmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri's penalty was saved byAlireza Beiranvand. Iran then defeated Oman 2–0 to reach the last eight.[65] In the quarter-finals against a defensiveChina, Iran outclassed the Chinese 3–0 to meetJapan in the semi-finals.[66] Iran missed the opportunity to reach the final once again when they fell 3–0 with all three goals scored in second half.[67]
Iran was the highest-ranked team to be seeded in the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, being drawn into thesecond round where they would deal with two Arab countries, Iraq andBahrain, along withCambodia andHong Kong. Iran, under new Belgian managerMarc Wilmots, began with a 2–0 away win over Hong Kong. After thedeath of Sahar Khodayari, the 14–0 win over Cambodia allowed select Iranian women to enter the stadium for the first time since the1979 Islamic Revolution.[68][69][70] Their next away encounters against Bahrain and Iraq went on to be consecutive defeats which Iran lost 0–1 and 1–2, respectively.[71][72] 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.[73]
TheCOVID-19 pandemic in Iran forced the remaining fixtures to be played without spectators in June 2021, forcing Iran to play their remaining games in Bahrain under new coachDragan Skočić; but with Bahrain losing its home support as an advantage, and Iraq assured a place in thefinal phase, Iran was able to stage a comeback, occupying first place and, together with Iraq, progressed to the final phase.[74]
Iran became the thirteenth team to qualify for the2022 FIFA World Cup 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.[75] Iran's World Cup preparation friendly match againstCanada atBC Place in June 2022 was cancelled by theCanadian Soccer Association amid opposition and mounting criticism, namely in regards to the Iranian government's role in shooting downUkraine International Airlines Flight 752.[76][77]
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'sblocking of Iranian women from their stadiums, their supplying of weapons to Russia during theinvasion of Ukraine, and the treatment towards protesters during theMahsa Amini protests.[78][79][80] However, Iran started its World Cup campaign with a nightmare, losing 2–6 toEngland in the opening game as Iran suffered the worst ever loss in its FIFA World Cup history.[81] The Iranian team notably made headlines in their opening match against England after refusing to sing thenational anthem in solidarity with theMahsa Amini protests, with some Iranian supporters cheering against their own team orboycotting their team amidst the ongoing protests as they felt the team was representing the government.[82][83][84][85]
In the following match againstWales, amidst the boos and whistles from some of 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-revolutionaryLion and Sunflags andWomen, Life, Freedom banners snatched from them by pro-government fans and stadium security at theAhmad bin Ali Stadium.[86][87][88][89] 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.[90][91] Documents obtained byIran International showed Iran was coordinating secret efforts with Qatar to control who attends the World Cup and restrict any signs of dissent.[92]
Ahead of Iran's final group stage match against theUnited States, the Iranian players were allegedly called in to a meeting with members of theIRGC 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.[93] 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, being the only team to finish third in the group with three points instead of four.[94] Some Iranians celebrated the defeat and one Iranian man was killed by security forces inBandar-e Anzali after honking his car horn in celebration.[95] Another Iranian fan was also arrested by Qatari police after he was wearing a shirt with theWoman, Life, Freedom slogan.[96]
During the FIFA World Cup as well as the2023 AFC Asian Cup, the Iranian government reportedly sent paid members of theBasij andIRGC to cheer for the team in the stands.[97][98][99] Iran were eventually knocked out in the semi-final of the Asian Cup by hostsQatar.[100] After the game, Iranian officials reportedly arrested ten teenagers in the city ofJavanrud for celebrating the team's elimination from the tournament.[101]
The Iranian national team has received several nicknames by supporters and media. The most common one used is"Team Melli" (Persian:تیم ملی), meaning "The National Team" inPersian. Although the Iranian supporters have popularized"Team Melli",[103][104] other nicknames for the team include "Persian Stars"[105][106][107] (entitled sincethe World Cup 2006)"Shiran e Iran",[108][109] meaning "TheIranian Lions" or "The Lions of Persia",[110][111]"Shir Delan", "Lion Hearts" and "Princes of Persia"[112][113] (used sinceAFC Asian Cup 2011).[114] Iran's slogan for the2014 FIFA World Cup wasHonour of Persia, selected in an internet poll held byFIFA.[115][116] A more recently used nickname, due to the presence of theAsiatic cheetah on the 2014 World Cup jersey, isYouzpalangan which means "The Cheetahs";[117] the team mascot "Yupa" is also a cheetah,[118] although this has been seen as a government propaganda ploy to wane people away from the lion nickname due to the pre-revolutionaryLion and Sun.[119][120]
Traditionally, Iran national football team's home kit is white, and the away kit is red. Sometimes, green shirts with white shorts and red socks are used.
Iran andIraq are neighboring rivals. According to theMalay Mail, "Emotions are always high when Iran and Iraq meet on the football pitch". In the contemporary era, especially during the reign ofSaddam Hussein, the two countries had worsened relations and fought theIran–Iraq War for 8 years.[126][127][128][129][130] In 2001, for the first time in decades, an Iran-Iraq match was not held at a neutral venue.[128] The rivalry was escalated after Iraq knocked Iran out of the2015 AFC Asian Cup in controversial circumstances.[131][132] Iran leads the series with 17 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses.
Iran andSaudi Arabia are ideological rivals.[133] The game was ranked eighth inGoal.com's 2010 list of "Football's 10 Greatest International Rivalries".[134] and ninth inBleacher Report's 2014 list of "International Football's 10 Most Politically-Charged Football Rivalries"[135] All of their matches have been competitive; none of them werefriendlies. 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.
Outside of the Middle East and Central Asia area, Team Melli has some fierce rivalries with East Asian powerhousesSouth Korea andJapan.
Since 1972, Iran's national stadium has beenTehran'sAzadi Stadium with a nominal capacity of 78,116 spectators.[136] Azadi Stadium is the28th largest association football stadium in the world, seventh in Asia and first in West Asia. A record was set in Azadi for the1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier againstAustralia with over 128,000 in attendance.[137] Since1979, the governmentrestrictsIranian women from entering the stadiums.[138][139] 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.”[140] After thedeath of Sahar Khodayari, select Iranian women were allowed to attend the match against Cambodia in October 2019.[68] However, in March 2022, Iranian women were again blocked from entering the stadium for a FIFA World Cup qualifier.[141]
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.
^abNekounam has two additional caps awarded by the Iranian FA. Those matches are not considered full internationals by FIFA, which only counts 149 appearances.[1]
^abcDaei has an additional cap and goal awarded by the Iranian FA but in a match that is not considered a full international by FIFA, which only counts 108 goals and 148 appearances.[2]
Ahmadreza Abedzadeh, an iconic goalkeeper known for his outstanding performances with the national team, is regarded as one of the finest in the nation's history.
^The tournament was not organized by an official sub-confederation, but was part of a socio-economic pact between its member states. Therefore, it is not considered an official regional tournament.
^Match against Turkey XI is not recognized as international "A" match.
^Iran sentMalavan F.C. to this tournament, therefore matches against Pakistan and Turkey are not recognized as international "A" matches.
Between December 2014 until May 2018, Iran was the highest-ranked team inAsia, the longest continuous period of time that a team has held that distinction.[154]
This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: Include post-2021 rankings. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2022)
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