Iranian national soccer team
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| Nickname (s) | Team Melli ( Tīm Mellī تیم ملی ) | ||
| Association | Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran | ||
| confederacy | AFC | ||
| Head coach |
 Dragan Skočić (since 2020)
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| captain | Masoud Shojaei | ||
| Record scorer | Ali Daei (109) | ||
| Record player | Javad Nekounam (151) | ||
| Home stadium | Azadi Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | IRN | ||
| FIFA rank | 33rd (1489 points) (as of July 16, 2020) |
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| Balance sheet | |||
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554 games 304 wins 137 draws 113 defeats |
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First international match Afghanistan 0-0 Iran ( Kabul , Afghanistan ; August 25, 1941 )
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Biggest win Iran 19-0 Guam ( Tabriz , Iran ; November 24, 2000 )
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Biggest defeat Turkey 6-1 Iran ( Istanbul , Turkey ; May 28, 1950 )
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| Successes in tournaments | |||
| World Championship | |||
| Participation in the finals | 5 ( first : 1978 ) | ||
| Best results | Preliminary round 1978 , 1998 , 2006 , 2014 , 2018 | ||
| Asian Championship | |||
| Participation in the finals | 11 ( first : 1968 ) | ||
| Best results | Winner 1968 , 1972 , 1976 | ||
| (As of November 14, 2019) | |||
The Iranian national football team ( Persian تیم ملی فوتبال ایران, Tīm-i Mellī Fūtbāl-i Īrān ; short tim-i Melli , the national team ') belongs to Japan , South Korea and Saudi Arabia 's most successful national football teams of Asia .
The national team has participated in five World Cups ( 1978 , 1998 , 2006 , 2014 and 2018 ). In all five participations, the team was eliminated in the preliminary round. The Iran qualified three times for the Olympic Games ( 1964 , 1972 , 1976 ). In Montréal , the team made it to the quarter-finals, which they lost to the Soviet Union .
The team has had many successful tournaments at the Asian Championships . She has already been in the final of an Asian football championship three times ( 1968 , 1972 , 1976 ), all of which she won. Five times ( 1980 , 1984 , 1988 , 1996 , 2004 ) Iran made it into the semi-finals of an Asian soccer championship, of which it lost three matches on penalties ( 1984 , 1996 , 2004 ). Team Melli won the game for third place in an Asian soccer championship four times ( 1980 , 1988 , 1996 , 2004 ).
Iran was also very successful at the Asian Games . The team has taken part in 14 finals so far, winning four gold medals (1974, 1990 , 1998 , 2002 ), three silver medals (1951, 1966) and one bronze medal ( 2006 ). Team Melli has won the final four times ( 2000 , 2002 , 2007 , 2008 ) and once the game for third place in the year ( 2004 ) in seven West Asian soccer championships held so far . In 2010 they secured second place.
Further successes of the Iranian national soccer team are three championship titles (1965, 1970, 1993) and three runner-up titles (1967, 1969, 1974) in the ECO-Cups, which were played a total of six times.
history
The Iranian football umbrella organization is called the IR of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) and was founded in 1920. The IRIFF was admitted to FIFA in 1945 and to the AFC in 1958 .
The first official international match in the history of Iranian football was played on January 1, 1941. Team Melli faced Afghanistan in Kabul , where the game ended goalless. The next international match took place six years later. On October 26, 1949, the Iranian national soccer team invited the selection of Turkey to a friendly game in Tehran . In this encounter Amir Masoud Boroumand scored the very first goal for Team Melli . Although Iran lost the game 3-1, the team was celebrated frenetically long after the game.
Iran's first victory dates back to 1950, when the national team defeated Afghanistan 4-0 in Tehran in their sixth international match on October 26, 1950 .
The Iranian national soccer team has so far played 546 official international matches, of which they won 293, lost 128 and drew 125. As of July 12, 2014
In 2015, Andranik Teymourian from Tractor Sazi Tabris became the first Christian captain of the Iranian national soccer team.
International competitions
Participation of Iran in the soccer world championship (5)
1930-1978
In 1973 Iran wanted to qualify for the soccer World Cup for the first time , but just failed in the second qualifying round to Australia with 3: 2 - first leg (0: 3) and second leg (2: 0).
Only four years later they qualified for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. The team prevailed clearly against its opponents South Korea , Australia and Kuwait . In the second round, Iran won six of eight games and drew twice. The games against Australia, which Iran won 1-0 each, and against Kuwait, which Iran also won, were particularly noteworthy. In the last encounter, Iran faced the Kuwait national team, which was then coached by Mário Zagallo . Iran offered its U19 selection and defeated the home team 2-1. After the successful qualification, Iran was like a madhouse. This historic success was celebrated nationwide.
At the World Cup finals, Iran had to play in Group 4 against the Netherlands , Peru and Scotland . The team first played against the Netherlands, who had become runner-up at the 1974 World Cup in Germany four years earlier . The Oranje Elftal was a size too big for the men of Heshmat Mohajerani . Iran clearly lost 3-0, with top Dutch striker Rob Rensenbrink scoring a hat trick . In the next game, Iran managed a surprise. In the game against the then strong national team of Scotland , Iran played cheerfully and defied the Scots from a point. In this game, Iraj Danaeifard scored Iran's first goal at a World Cup. In the last group game, Iran met Peru, which with its top stars Cubillas and La Rosa did not give Team Melli a chance and won the game 4-1. In the end, Iran finished bottom of the group with just one point and was eliminated in the preliminary round.
1982-1998
The Islamic Revolution and the first Gulf War almost brought football to a standstill in Iran in the 1980s. In 1981 Team Melli withdrew and waived qualification for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
Four years later in 1985, FIFA suspended Iran because it refused to play its home games on neutral ground as part of qualifying for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
The team also did not qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Already in the first round of the Iran failed - China finally finished in first place in World Cup qualifying Group 5 Asia and qualified for the second round. In 1993 the Iranian national soccer team made another attempt to qualify for a soccer world championship; this time the Iranians were eliminated in the final qualifying round. Saudi Arabia and South Korea represented Asia at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
It was not until 1997 that Team Melli was able to qualify for a world championship again. The team started the first qualifying phase with a bang and defeated the Maldives 17-0 in the first group game . In the end, the team finished first in their group with 16 points from six games and a goal difference of +36 (39: 3). - In the second qualifying round, the hungry Iranians kicked off again and defeated China 4-2 away. Mehdi Mahdavikia scored two remarkable goals. The Chinese were also defeated 4-1 in Tehran. At the end of the second round, however, the team ran out of air and so they messed up against the bottom two from Kuwait with 0-0 and Qatar with 0-2. Iran ended up in second place in the table behind Saudi Arabia . - According to the qualification mode, the two runners-up from the second round had to play a play-off on neutral ground, the winner of which also qualified for the 1998 World Cup. Iran was defeated in that relegation game by Japan after extra time with 2: 3 and thus had to compete in the intercontinental relegation against Oceania winner Australia to determine the last World Cup participant . The first play-off game took place in front of 100,000 spectators in the sold-out Azadi Stadium and ended 1-1. In the second leg, the Australians led 2-0 after 75 minutes and looked like the sure winner before Karim Bagheri and Khodadad Azizi scored two goals within five minutes and the Aussies fell into deep grief. The Hungarian referee Sándor Puhl ended the game after 98 minutes and Team Melli qualified again for a World Cup after 20 years. The Iranians celebrated their great triumph worldwide. The highlight of all celebrations was the arrival of the so-called "Heroes of Melbourne", who were enthusiastically received by more than 100,000 spectators in the completely filled Azadi Stadium.
At the 1998 World Cup , the national team met Germany , Yugoslavia and the USA . The handwriting of the former national coach Tomislav Ivić was already clearly visible in the first group game . The team combined safely and had the game in hand. The Yugoslavs , who with their numerous football stars u. a. Vladimir Jugović , Dragan Stojković , Darko Kovačević , Siniša Mihajlović , Predrag Mijatović and Savo Milošević found no recipe to crack the Iranian defenses. In the 72nd minute, however, they surprisingly scored the only goal of the game after Iranian goalkeeper Nima Nakissa made a mistake and failed to save Mihajlović's durable free-kick. From the point of view of many experts, the victory of the Yugoslav national team was flattering. - In the second game, the "historic and explosive duel" against the USA , Team Melli achieved their first victory at a soccer world championship. Before the game there was still a level 1 alert as the organizers feared riots. However, both teams made it clear that they did not compete with the intention of fighting politically, but rather to play football: Before the kick-off, the Iranian national players presented the US boys with bouquets of flowers, while the coaches of both teams greeted each other amicably. A great idea was due to the spontaneity of both teams, who lined up next to each other for a common team image. This symbolic image later went around the world and made positive headlines. The Iranians played a strong game but missed many opportunities to get a better result than a close 2-1. The man of the day was the young whirlwind Mehdi Mahdavikia, who offered an outstanding performance throughout the season and with his goal to 2-0 led Iran to their greatest success at a World Cup so far. Karim Bagheri, Hamid Reza Estili , the scorer of the first goal, Mehrdad Minavand and Javad Zarincheh also impressed with an impeccable performance. - In the last group game, the team met the DFB selection . Before the tournament, Iran planned a defeat against Germany , but after the courageous appearance against the USA , the team didn't want to hear about it. The Iranians kept up in the first half of the game, the Germans turned up after the restart and won the game 2-0 after goals from Bierhoff and Klinsmann . Team Melli finished in third place in the table at the end of the group stage and was thus eliminated from the tournament. After the 1998 World Cup, many European clubs were interested in Iranian national players. Mehdi Mahdavikia moved to the Bundesliga for VfL Bochum and later for Hamburger SV . Mehrdad Minavand moved to SK Sturm Graz , Mehdi Pashazadeh to Bayer 04 Leverkusen , Alireza Mansourian to Skoda Xanthi and Nima Nakissa to AO Kavala . Ali Daei already played in the Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld , but announced his move to the Isar to Bayern Munich before the World Cup finals . Karim Bagheri, whom East Westphalia signed with Ali Daei for the 1997/1998 season , remained loyal to the Armines.
2002-2010
After the 1998 World Cup, which was successful in Iran, Team Melli wanted to qualify three years later for the next World Cup finals , which took place in South Korea and Japan . Team Melli had to face Guam , Tajikistan and Myanmar in the first round . Myanmar withdrew from qualification before the first group game. The Iranians faced Guam's selection in their first game, which they played dizzy and clearly defeated 19-0. In the second group game they also beat Tajikistan 2-0. The first round ended after this game, as no second legs were played. - Iran made it into the second round with ease. There you met the eternal opponent Saudi Arabia and the national teams from Bahrain , Iraq and Thailand . Before the first game in the Asian Group A World Cup qualification was played, the Iranian Football Association kept its word and signed an experienced European football coach: Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević , who surprisingly came third in the 1998 World Cup with Croatia . The IRIFF left Ćiro to choose his assistant coaches, including Branko Ivanković . The first group game took place in front of 100,000 spectators in Tehran's Azadi Stadium, the opponent was Saudi Arabia. The handwriting Ćiros was recognizable, Iran played a remarkable football. The defense was secure, the midfield combined fluidly and the attackers' routes were well thought out. The choice of Saudi Arabia was no match for this modern European style of play. Team Melli prevailed convincingly 2-0, with Ali Daei scoring both goals. Ćiro's team played a strong qualification and led the table until the last group game. Ironically, in the last encounter against Bahrain, they suffered their first defeat. Since Saudi Arabia defeated Thailand's national team 4-1 at the same time, Iran ended up in second place on the last day of the table and thus missed the direct qualification for the 2002 World Cup. - So the Iranians had to be relegated again. In two relegation games between Iran and the United Arab Emirates , the runners-up from Group B, the team was to be determined that then had to compete in the intercontinental relegation against a European country in order to determine the last World Cup participant. The Iranian national soccer team won both games against the United Arab Emirates and faced Ireland in the last round . In two games, the Irish won 2-1 - first leg 2-0 and second leg 0-1.
After Team Melli did not qualify for South Korea / Japan in 2002 , a mud fight began. The person to blame for the failure was sought. While some officials fought publicly, Miroslav Blažević resigned from his post. Many players and the vast majority of Iranian football fans and experts still regret his resignation today, as the team made enormous progress under his direction and the style of play and the entire concept gave hope for a successful future.
The 2006 soccer world championship was held in Germany. Iran prevailed against Laos , Jordan and Qatar in the second round , and in the third round Iran qualified directly for the 2006 World Cup, behind Japan and ahead of Bahrain and North Korea's selection . - Iran played an overall disappointing World Cup finals and retired with only one point as the bottom of the group D in the preliminary round. Team Melli's poor performance was due to two reasons: internal battles among the top players and political pressure from the West on the Islamic government - rallies against the rulers of Tehran took place before every group game. There was no team spirit, the team played without a plan and listlessly. The World Cup district was like a holiday resort. The players were more preoccupied with themselves and the many agent agents who besieged the area on a daily basis than with diligently preparing for the respective games. There are numerous video clips for this on various websites. Shortly after the last game, in which Iran struggled to draw against Angola (1-1), Branko Ivanković , who had led Iran to the 2006 World Cup , drew the consequences for the poor results and resigned from his position. - Even before the team returned to Iran, the association's president was dismissed under pressure from the Islamic government, whereupon FIFA and later the AFC stepped in and asked the Iranian Football Association to take a position on Mohammad Dadkan's removal.
As part of the qualification for the Soccer World Cup 2010 in South Africa, the team prevailed in the third round of the Asia zone in Group 5 with a lot of effort and little shine against the United Arab Emirates , Kuwait and Syria and came first with the second, the UAE entered the fourth round. There, Team Melli met in Group 2 against its permanent rivals Saudi Arabia and South Korea as well as North Korea and the group opponent from the third round, the United Arab Emirates . However, they did not qualify for South Africa. Iran finished the qualifying phase in fourth group and was eliminated.
The preparations of the Iranian national soccer team for the 2010 World Cup were anything but promising. Games against English or Spanish professional clubs and / or national teams that have already been announced have been canceled by potential or established opponents. The reasons for this have been the lack of professionalism on the part of the Iranian Football Association - games were announced although no official confirmation of the desired opponent was available (e.g. Charlton Athletic ) - or political pressure from the respective states on the clubs or national associations - Iran's missile tests did not snub only the west (e.g. Egypt) - called.
2014
The Iranian national soccer team succeeded on June 18, 2013 in Ulsan in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup with a 1-0 away win over South Korea . In the group stage of the finals, Iran faced Argentina , Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nigeria for the first time at a World Cup . A lackluster and goalless draw against Nigeria was followed by a very respectable performance against Argentina. Despite Iran's larger play, especially in the second half, Argentina won the game 1-0 with a goal in stoppage time. In the final game against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran could not build on the good performance against Argentina. The deserved 1: 3 defeat also meant the end of the group in 2014.
2018
On June 12, 2017 , Iran qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a 2-0 home win against Uzbekistan . At the World Cup finals, the team knew how to please. After the happy opening win against Morocco with an own goal in stoppage time, Team Melli only narrowly lost 1-0 against Spain and had every chance of reaching the round of 16 for the first time before the last group game. A respectable 1: 1 was achieved against Portugal , but that was not enough. Never before had Iran scored so many points (four) in a World Cup group stage and still retired.
World Cup scorer
| rank | player | World Cup games | Gates | Participation |
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| 1 | Iraj Danaeifard | 2 | 1 | 1978 |
| Yahya Golmohammadi | 2 | 1 | 2006 | |
| Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh | 2 | 1 | 2006 | |
| Hassan Rowshan | 3 | 1 | 1978 | |
| Hamid Estili | 3 | 1 | 1998 | |
| Reza Ghoochannejad | 3 | 1 | 2014 | |
| Karim Ansarifard | 4th | 1 | 2014, 2018 | |
| Mehdi Mahdavikia | 6th | 1 | 1998, 2006 |
As of June 25, 2018
Participation of Iran in the soccer Asian championship (12)
Iran and South Korea are Asia 's record holders with twelve appearances each in the Asian soccer championships , with Team Melli leading the all-time table. Only Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia have won three tournaments each so far, but Team Melli is the only national soccer team on the Asian continent to win three titles in a row without losing or drawing.
Iran presented with Homayoun "Sar talaie" Behzadi ( 1968 ), Hossein Ali "Motor talaei" Kalani and Ali Jabbari ( 1972 ), Nasser Nouraei and Gholam Hossein Mazloomi ( 1976 ), Behtash Fariba ( 1980 ), Nasser Mohammadkhani and Shahrokh Baiyani ( 1984 ), Ali Daei ( 1996 ) and Ali Karimi ( 2004 ) the top goal scorers in six Asian soccer championships. Ali Daei still holds the goal record: At the 1996 Asian Football Championship in the United Arab Emirates, he achieved the record of eight goals that is still valid today. Iran's second top scorer in a final tournament is Behtash Fariba with seven goals (1980).
Iran did not take part in the first edition, the 1956 Asian Football Championship in Hong Kong.
In 1960 the second Asian Cup took place in South Korea. However, Iran did not qualify for the finals. In the so-called western zone of the qualifying round, they faced Israel , Pakistan and India . An unnecessary home defeat against the bottom of the table, the Indian team, cost Iran participation in the Asian Cup. The team finished second behind Israel, against which Iran won 3-0 at home and played 1-1 away.
In 1963, Iran refused, for political reasons , to compete against India's selection in qualifying for the 1964 Asian Football Championship , which was held in Israel. Since Pakistan also did without, India qualified for the finals.
In 1968 Iran hosted the fourth Asian Cup . The hosts sent Taiwan's selection 4-0 straight away in the first game . The second game against the Hong Kong national team also went according to plan, which they won 2-0. In the heated encounter against Burma the triumphant advance continued, final score: 3: 1. In the last game, Israel had to admit defeat to Iran. With goals from Homayoun Behzadi and Parviz Ghelichkhani , Team Melli secured the first Asian Championship. Homayoun Behzadi became the tournament's record scorer with two Israeli players who also scored four goals each.
Thailand was the fifth host of the Asian Cup in 1972 . Iran was automatically qualified as the reigning Asian soccer champions at this final round. Iran won all games again - 2-0 against Cambodia , 3-0 against Iraq , 3-2 against Thailand , 2-1 in the semifinals against Cambodia and 2-1 in the final against South Korea - and became football for the second time in a row -Asian champions. Iran provided the top scorers in this finals with Hossein Ali Kalani and Ali Jabbari .
The sixth Asian Cup in 1976 was originally supposed to host Lebanon. Due to the civil war, the tournament took place in Iran. Iran also prevailed in this final round: 2-0 against Iraq , 8-0 against South Yemen , 2-0 in the semi-finals against China and 1-0 in the final against Kuwait . Iran won the Asian championship for the third time in a row. The Iranian attackers Nasser Nouraei and Gholam Hossein Mazloomi as well as the Kuwaiti Fatehi Kamil were the most successful goal scorers of the tournament with three goals each. The Iranian midfield strategist Ali Parvin , who scored the winning goal in the final against Kuwait in front of 100,000 spectators in the sold-out Aryamehr Stadium , became the so-called Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the sixth Asian Football Championship.
The great successes came with the Islamic revolution . At the seventh edition of the Asian Cup in 1980 in Kuwait, the reigning Asian champions started the tournament weakly by not getting past 0-0 in the first group game against Syria . The second round match against the selection of China was not won either, the final score was 2: 2. In the third group game against Bangladesh , Team Melli showed something of their class from earlier days and dealt with the South Asians 7-0. The last group game against North Korea ended with a 3-2 win for Iran, which meant the team made it to the semi-finals. In the semifinals, the host waited, who had a few bills with Iran. Carlos Alberto Parreira , the Brazil in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA led to the title and from the mid-1970s on the side of Mário Zagallo's selection of Kuwait trained, remembered quite well to the defeat against Iran: qualification for the 1978 World Cup and the final of the 1976 Asian Cup. The then new head coach of the Kuwaiti national team and his team ended the 12-year dominance of Team Melli with a narrow 2-1 win over Iran . Although Iran prevailed 3-0 in the game for third place against North Korea, the team seemed tired and unfocused. So you also conceded all goals between the 60th and 90th minute of the game. The exceptional Iranian striker Behtash Fariba celebrated a small success, who set a new record at the Asian Championships with seven goals, which was only broken 16 years later.
The eighth Asian Cup took place in Singapore in 1984 . Iran sovereignly prevailed against its opponents Bangladesh (5: 0), Syria (3: 1), Thailand (5: 0), Indonesia (1: 0), Philippines (7: 1) and Syria (1: 0) and thus bought the ticket for participation in the tournament in Singapore. In contrast to 1980, Team Melli got off to a good start in the finals by defeating the UAE 3-0 in the opening game and China 2-0 in the second group game. After two convincing performances, two draws against the bottom two of the table India (0: 0) and Singapore (1: 1) followed completely unexpectedly. Iran therefore missed the opportunity to finish the preliminary round as first in the table. So in the semifinals you had to play second in Group 2 against the first in Group 1, the team from Saudi Arabia. Iran led 1-0 by the 87th minute and had one leg in the final of the eighth Asian Cup before young Iranian defender Shahin Bayani made a fatal mistake that led to the Saudis scoring. Bayani's own goal pushed the game into extra time and after 120 minutes of play, both teams had to determine the finalists on penalties . Carlos Alberto Parreira's team, who four years earlier defeated Iran in the semi-finals of the seventh Asian Cup with the Kuwait national team, won the penalty shoot-out 5-4. Iran thus missed the final for the second time in a row. In the game for third place, the team lost again on penalties with 3: 5 against Kuwait. Nasser Mohammadkhani and Shahrokh Baiyani (both Iran) and Jia Xiuquan (China) were the top scorers of the tournament with three goals each.
In 1988, Qatar hosted the ninth Asian Cup . The Iranians qualified for the tournament (2: 0 against Hong Kong, 1: 1 against Syria, 0: 0 against North Korea and 3: 0 against Nepal) and met Qatar, South Korea, Japan and the UAE in preliminary group A. While in the first and third games against the Persian Gulf States Qatar 2-0 and the UA Emirates 1-0 prevailed relatively effortlessly, the Iranians couldn't cope with the way the East Asian representatives played. In the second group game they managed a meager 0-0 against Japan. Iran moved into the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the fifth time in a row, despite losing 3-0 to South Korea in the last group game. History repeated itself when the team, like four years earlier, scored in the semi-finals as second in their group against the first of the other group, the national team of Saudi Arabia. In the 1970s, Carlos Alberto Parreira lost all international matches against Iran as Mario Zagallos' assistant coach. In this tournament, however, he won the semi-finals of an Asian Cup against Iran for the third time in a row, final score: 1-0. Team Melli once again only had the game for third place, which they won 3-0 in a penalty shoot-out against China.
Japan hosted the tenth Asian football championship in 1992 . Iran easily qualified for the tournament, beating Pakistan 7-0 and India 3-0, but the finals were possibly the biggest disappointment in the long history of Iranian football. Team Melli was eliminated for the first and to date last time in an Asian championship in the preliminary round. Everything started well, the team managed a 2-0 victory over North Korea in the first game. The Iranian national team was also able to convince in the second game, which ended 0-0 against the UAE. In the last preliminary round match you met the hosts, who you stood up to for almost the entire season. Nevertheless, the Japanese won the game with a lot of luck, with the only goal of the encounter falling in the 87th minute of the game. In the remaining minutes, the Iranians tried with a lot of effort to score the equalizer, but they no longer succeeded.
The eleventh soccer Asian championship took place in December 1996 in the United Arab Emirates. Team Melli played a convincing qualification, winning all games against Nepal (8-0 and 4-0), Sri-Lanka (7-0 and 4-0) and Oman (2-0 and 2-1). In the UAE, the team first had to face Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Thailand. While the start against the Iraqis was moderate with a 1: 2 defeat, the team found its form quite quickly and defeated Thailand 3: 1 and the long-term rivals Saudi Arabia 3: 0, a small revenge for the two bitter defeats of the 1980s against the neighboring state. Since the Asian Football Association (AFC) increased the number of finalists from eight to twelve before the tournament, a quarter-finals were played for the first time. Iran faced another eternal rival in this round, the national team of South Korea. In this game, Iran celebrated its biggest comeback in a game: after it was 2-1 for South Korea at halftime, the Mohammad Mayeli Kohans team turned up and played an unforgettable second half, with Iran five goals (4 × Ali Daei) scored and reached the semi-finals with a 6-2 victory. In the semifinals there was again a duel between the neighboring states of Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis played totally destructive football for over 90 minutes. Iran still managed to create some good scoring opportunities, but the strong Saudi goalkeeper Mohammad ad-Daʿayyaʿ thwarted them with skill and a few times a lot of luck. After 90 minutes it was extended, the picture did not change. Iran attacked and Saudi Arabia defended with all their might. So the team had to play again in an important and decisive game against Saudi Arabia on penalties, the Melli team traditionally lost, final score: 3: 4. The Iranians maintained further traditions at this tournament: After losing the semi-final against Saudi Arabia, they met Kuwait again in the game for third place, as in 1984. The outcome of this game was traditionally only known after the penalty shoot-out. This time the Iranian national team won 3-2. Ali Daei scored eight goals at this tournament, breaking the record set by his compatriot Behtash Fariba in 1980. Nobody has been able to beat this record so far.
Lebanon hosted the twelfth Asian football championship in 2000 . Iran beat Maldives (8: 0 and 3: 0), Syria (1: 0 and 1: 1) and Bahrain (0: 1 and 3: 0) and qualified for the tournament. As expected, Iran secured group victory (Group A). The team came to a convincing 4-0 win over the hosts, a 1-1 draw against Thailand and a 1-0 win over Iraq. The opponent in the quarter-final was again South Korea, as in the last round in the UAE. Both teams touched each other over long distances, which is why there was a lack of goal opportunities. In the 71st minute of the game, however, Iran went 1-0 through a remarkable long-range shot by Karim Bagheris and until the 94th minute of the game Iran looked like the sure winner. Completely unexpectedly, South Korea managed to equalize in the last minute of stoppage time, so the game went into overtime. Before the tournament, the AFC introduced the golden goal rule, which it abolished after this final round. Ironically, the first so-called golden goal fell in the game between Iran and South Korea , when Lee Dong-gook scored 2-1 for South Korea in the 99th minute and knocked Iran out of the tournament. Iran lost their way into the semi-finals within five minutes, which is why the disappointment after the game was great. Jalal Talebi , the Iranian national coach, consequently resigned from his position.
The thirteenth Asian football championship took place in China in the summer of 2004. Iran managed to qualify for the tournament almost effortlessly: With a 4-1 win and a 2-3 loss against Jordan, a 3-1 and 1-0 win over North Korea and two wins against Lebanon (3-0 and 1-0) Iran secured participation in the finals in China. In Group 4, Iran first faced Thailand, which they beat 3-0. Iran struggled in the second game against the Persian Gulf state of Oman. Oman almost achieved a sensation before Mohammad Nosrati equalized the score with his goal in stoppage time and saved Iran at least one point. In the last group game against Japan, both teams played and so the match ended goalless. Iran made it to the quarter-finals behind Japan and for the third time in a row the opponent was South Korea. Ali Karimi shot the South Koreans almost single-handedly. He scored three goals and helped his team to a 4-3 victory over their long-term rivals from East Asia. Team Melli reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cup again after 1996, in which they met the host - in a memorable game with many questionable decisions by the Lebanese referee, who won the red to Iranian players Sattar Zare (48th) and Mohammad Alavi (83rd) Card showed. After 120 minutes there was no winner, the finalist found himself again in a penalty shoot-out. The Iranians traditionally failed on penalties and were beaten 3: 4 to the Chinese. In the game for third place, Bahrain was defeated 4-2. In this tournament, Ali Karimi and a Bahraini international were top scorers of this Asian Cup with five goals each.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam jointly hosted the fourteenth edition of the Asian Football Championship in 2007 . The Iranian national team met Syria, South Korea and Taiwan in qualifying for this tournament. They played 1-1 against both Syria and South Korea in the first leg and won the second leg 2-0. Against Taiwan another 2-0 victory succeeded, which finally qualified. At the tournament, Iran could not convince in any game. In the opinion of many Iranian football experts, the team was not well-rehearsed, looked tired and tactically unwise, despite many stars (including Mehdi Mahdavikia, Wahid Haschemian , Javad Nekounam , Rahman Rezaei , Anderanik Teymourian , Ferydoon Zandi etc.). Iran won their opening game against Uzbekistan 2-1, fought a 2-2 draw against China in the second half of the second preliminary round and defeated co-hosts Malaysia 2-0 in the last group game, but all successes were overwhelming Thanks to the skillful individual actions of the stars kicking abroad such as Nekounam, Teymourian and Zandi. In the quarter-finals, Iran faced South Korea for the fourth time in a row, who sent a relatively young and inexperienced selection into the tournament. Iran, with its many stars, owed a lot. In 120 minutes of play, no recipe was found to crack the inexperienced defense of the South Koreans. In the end, both teams faced each other on penalties, which South Korea won 4-2. The Iranians failed again on penalties. After the final round, the coach Amir Ghalenoei did not resign at first and regularly gave new reasons for the failure of the national team, which were incomprehensible to many experts, fans and the association (e.g. too high humidity ). However, he never admitted his own mistakes in terms of preparation, composition of the squad, tactics, etc. After a few weeks, however, he resigned from his position.
The quarter-finals of the 2011 Asian Cup , which was held in Qatar , were the final destination for Iran's team. Again, the insurmountable opponent was South Korea . And like four years before, it took 120 minutes of play to determine a winner. But before there could be another penalty shoot-out, Yoon Bit-garam scored the winning goal for the South Koreans.
Participation of Iran in the Olympic Games (3)
Iran qualified for the Olympic Games three times ( 1964 , 1972 , 1976 ).
Team Melli did not take part in the Olympic Games of 1900-1960 or 1968.
In 1964, the team qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The team played in Group A against Germany , Romania and Mexico . With only one draw against Mexico, the team finished last in the group and started their journey home.
In 1972 in Munich she met Hungary , Denmark and Brazil in Group 3 . The games against Hungary and Denmark were lost with 0: 5 (Hungary) and 0: 4 (Denmark). A respectable success was the very first win at an Olympic tournament against the selection of Brazil, which Iran defeated 1-0. Majid Halvai scored the winning goal in the 63rd minute of the game. In the end, Iran was eliminated from the tournament in third place, ahead of Brazil.
At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal , the team ended up in Group C. The group opponents were Poland , Cuba and Ghana , from which Ghana withdrew before the tournament. Iran won their first group game against Cuba 1-0 ( Mazloomi , 28th). In the second encounter against Poland, the Iranians took a 1-0 lead through Parvin in the sixth minute , but in the end they lost the game 3-2. The team qualified as runner-up behind Poland for the quarter-finals when Iran met the Soviet Union and lost 2-1.
In 1980, Iran boycotted the games in Moscow , even though they qualified for the tournament. The official reason was the invasion of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
The 1984 Olympic Games, which were held in Los Angeles , were also boycotted for political reasons.
The 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul were not boycotted, but failed in the first qualifying round.
Since the FIFA regulation of 1992, according to which only professionals who are not older than 23 years and a maximum of three older players are allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, Iran, like many other nations, has an U23 selection that has so far been selected has not yet qualified for any tournament. In 2007, Iran missed participating in the Olympic Games of 2008 in Beijing .
Participation of Iran in the Asian Games (14)
In 1951, India hosted the first Asian Games in New Delhi . For the first time ever, Iran took part in a major tournament (soccer World Cup / Asian Cup, Olympic Games). The team around captain Amir Masoud Boroumand narrowly missed the gold medal. In the first game they beat Burma 2-0, in the second game they played 0-0 against Japan and in the third game they defeated Japan 3-2. Only in the last game against the hosts did the team lose 1-0 and thus “only” won silver.
The Iranian national team did not take part in the Asian Games in Manila (Philippines) in 1954.
The third Asian Games took place in Tokyo, Japan, in 1958. The Iranian national football team took part in these games, but was eliminated in the preliminary round. The team clearly lost 4-0 to Israel and 5-0 to South Korea.
Jakarta, Indonesia, hosted the fourth Asian Games in 1962. Team Melli decided not to take part in these games.
The fifth Asian Games took place in Bangkok (Thailand) in 1966. Iran competed with a young team and won the silver medal for the second time after 1951. The team around Homayoun Behzadi and Hamid "Pa talaei" Shirzadegan prevailed against Malaysia 2-0 in the opening game. This was followed by a 3-1 defeat against Japan, a 4-1 win over India, a narrow 1-0 win against Indonesia, a 0-1 defeat against Burma, a 1-0 win over Japan and another 0-1 defeat in the last game against Burma.
Bangkok (Thailand) also hosted the sixth Asian Games in 1970. Team Melli was eliminated in the preliminary round, as at the Asian Games in Japan in 1958, after playing 2-2 against Indonesia and losing 1-0 to South Korea.
Iran hosted the seventh Asian Games in Tehran in 1974. The team played a perfect tournament and won all games. In the opening game, in front of 70,000 spectators in the Aryamehr Stadium, Pakistan's selection 7-0 after Gholam Hossein Mazloomi opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the game. In the second game they beat Burma 2-1. The third game took place in front of 10,000 spectators in Tehran's old national stadium, the Amjadieh Stadium. The opponent was Bahrain, who went down 6-0 against the hungry Iranian national team without a chance. Iran won the fourth game with a goal by Ali Parvin in the 17th minute of the game 1-0. On the way to the gold medal, South Korea could not trip Iran either. Team Melli prevailed with a 2-0 win over the East Asians. In the penultimate game you beat the neighbors from Iraq 1-0. Iran faced Israel in the final. In front of 100,000 spectators in the Aryamehr Stadium, the Iranians left nothing to be desired and won 1-0 with Itzhak Shum's own goal in the 30th minute of the game. The team of the English coach Frank O'Farrell won its first gold medal at the Asian Games.
In 1978 the eighth Asian Games took place again in Bangkok (Thailand). Due to the political unrest in Iran - which ultimately led to the Iranian Revolution - no participation was made.
The ninth edition of the Asian Games in 1982 was held in New Delhi (India). After the team lost 1-0 to Japan in the preliminary round, defeated South Korea 1-0 and defeated Yemen 2-0, they moved into the quarter-finals, which Kuwait only won 1-0 in extra time.
Seoul (South Korea) hosted the 10th Asian Games in 1986. Iran got off to a good start, beating Japan 2-0 and Bangladesh 4-0. The third preliminary round they lost 1-0 to Kuwait. After a peat festival against Nepal, which Iran rolled over 6-0, the team reached the knockout round. In the quarter-finals they met the hosts, to whom Iran lost 4-5 on penalties - the score after 120 minutes: 1-1. As four years earlier, the quarter-finals were the final destination for Iran.
At the eleventh Asian Games in Beijing (China) in 1990, Iran won the gold medal again after 16 years. The team of coach Ali Parvin played, like 16 years earlier at home, a perfect tournament by winning all the games for themselves. Farshad Pyous , a gifted attacker of the time, shot down Malaysia single-handedly in the first game. He scored a hat trick and helped his team to a 3-0 win over the South Asians. Also in the second game Pyous contributed another goal to the 2-1 win against North Korea. Iran continued the tournament focused and beat Japan and South Korea 1-0 each in the next two games. In the final of the eleventh Asian Games, Iran met North Korea again. After the game remained goalless even after extra time, it came to penalties, which Iran won 4-1.
Iran was eliminated in the preliminary round of the twelfth edition of the Asian Games, which took place in Hiroshima (Japan) in 1994, after only two against the then football underdogs Bahrain (0-0) and Turkmenistan (1-1) tired played a draw. The team of Croatian coach Stanko Poklepović also stumbled upon China, who beat the Iranians 1-0. The only victory in this tournament was the 4-0 win over Yemen.
Iran won its third gold medal at the thirteenth Asian Games in 1998 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Iranians played a perfect tournament again. The team around captain Ali Daei and other stars (including Karim Bagheri, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Wahid Haschemian, Ali Karimi etc.) won the preliminary round against Kazakhstan (2: 0), Laos (6: 2), Oman (4: 2) , Tajikistan (5-0) and China (2-1). In the quarterfinals they eliminated Uzbekistan with a 4-0 win. Iran played the semi-finals against the Chinese, who defeated Team Melli 1-0. In the final, Karimi and Bagheri met for the 2-0 final against the selection of Kuwait. Ali Daei became the tournament's top scorer with nine goals.
The fourteenth Asian Games took place from September 29th to October 14th, 2002 in Busan, South Korea. Following a decision of the Olympic Committee of Asia ( English Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) ) participating in the football tournament States were allowed, as in the Olympics, send only their U23 national teams in the race for the medals. Iran's U23 team won gold at the Asian Games for the fourth time and for the second time in a row. In Doha (Qatar), at the fifteenth edition of the Asian Games, they won the bronze medal.
At the Asian Games in Doha in 2006 , Iran advanced to the semi-finals, where they lost 2-0 to hosts Qatar's team. After all, in the game for third place, compensation followed in the form of the bronze medal (1-0 afterwards against South Korea).
In 2010 , Iran's team also made it to the semi-finals, where Japan was too high a hurdle (1: 2). Again you had to make do with the small final, where South Korea was waiting again. It shouldn't be enough for a medal this time, Iran lost 3: 4.
Participation of Iran in the Football West Asian Championships (5)
The Football West Asian Championship is a competition of the West Asian Football Federation West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) , which is played out since the year 2000. There have been seven tournaments so far, with Iran four times West Asian champions ( 2000 , 2004 , 2007 , 2008 ), once second ( 2010 ) and once third ( 2002 ). In the first edition, they defeated Syria 1-0 in the final. The second tournament ended with a 4-2 win (after penalties) over Syria. The third championship took place in Tehran. Iran won the final 4-1 against Syria. In the fourth edition in Jordan, Iran beat Iraq 2-1 in the final. Iran hosted the fifth West Asian Cup. The hosts' team won the Jordan national team 2-1 in the final. In the sixth edition in Jordan, they lost the final 2-1 to Kuwait. The seventh edition in 2012 took place in Kuwait, where Iran failed in the group stage.
Record player
(As of November 10, 2019)
| Record player | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | player | position | Period | Gates |
| 151 (148) | Javad Nekounam | midfield | 2000-2015 | 39 |
| 149 (148) | Ali Daei | attack | 1993-2006 | 109 |
| 127 | Ali Karimi | midfield | 1998-2012 | 38 |
| 114 (116) | Jalal Hosseini | midfield | 2007-2018 | 8th |
| 111 (110) | Mehdi Mahdavikia | midfield | 1996-2009 | 13 |
| 109 | Ehsan Hajsafi | Defense | 2008– | 6th |
| 101 (100) | Andranik Teymourian | midfield | 2005-2016 | 9 |
| Record shooters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gates | player | Period | Games |
| 109 | Ali Daei | 1993-2006 | 149 (148) |
| 50 | Karim Bagheri | 1993-2010 | 87 |
| 39 | Javad Nekounam | 2000-2015 | 151 (148) |
| 38 | Ali Karimi | 1998-2012 | 127 |
| 32 | Sardar Azmoun | 2014- | 50 |
| 26th | Karim Ansarifard | 2009- | 81 |
| 20th | Mehdi Taremi | 2015- | 44 |
International matches against German-speaking national soccer teams
| date | place | Home team | result | Visiting team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 06/25/1998 |
Montpellier ( ) |
 Germany
|
2-0 |
Iran
|
| 2. | 09/01/2000 | Vienna |
 Austria
|
5: 1 |
Iran
|
| 3. | 10/09/2004 | Tehran |
Iran |
0: 2 |
Germany
|
So far there have been no games against Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Trainer (incomplete)
| Surname | Period | comment |
|---|---|---|
|
Hossein Sadaghiani
|
Aug. 1941 to Sep. 1947 | |
 Alfred James Gibel
|
Sep 1947 to Sep 1948 | |
.svg){kind=small} Zdravko Rajkov
|
1969 to 1970 | |
 Ademar da Silva Braga
|
2000 to 2001 | For 3 games interim coach |
 / / Miroslav Blažević
|
Jan. 2001 to Nov. 2001 | |
|
Branko Ivankovic
|
2002 to June 2006 | |
|
Mansour Ebrahimzadeh
|
Jan. to Mar. 2008 | Interim coach for three games |
|
Ali Daei
|
March 2008 to Mar. 2009 | |
|
Erich Rutemöller
|
March until April 2009 | Interim coach for a game |
|
Mayeli Kohan
|
Apr. 2009 | Didn't look after the team in any game |
|
Afshin Ghotbi
|
April 2009 to January 2011 | |
 Carlos Queiroz
|
Apr. 2011 to Jan. 2019 | |
 Marc Wilmots
|
May to November 2019 | |
|
Dragan Skočić
|
from March 2020 |
See also
- List of the international matches of the Iranian national football team
- Iranian women's national soccer team
- Iranian national soccer team (U-17 juniors)
- Iranian national soccer team (U-20 men)
Web links
- IRIFF website
- FIFA: - Information on Iranian football
- RSSSF: Archive of the results from 1941 to 2005
- RSSSF: Archives of Iranian Players and Scorers
- RSSSF: Archives of Iranian Trainers from 1941
Individual evidence
- ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Iran: For the first time, a Christian leads the national soccer team . idea message on kath.net , April 6, 2015.
-
↑ FIFA calls for a position from Iran . Nachrichten.ch, June 25, 2006.
Football - FIFA: Ban against Iran lifted . sid report on Focus Online , December 17, 2006. - ↑ Enrico Barz: Australia, Iran and South Korea buy World Cup tickets. In: fussball-wm-total.de. FOOTBALL WORLD CUP total, June 18, 2013, accessed on August 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Portugal as second in the group in the round of 16. In: fussball-wm-total.de. FOOTBALL WM-Total, June 25, 2014, accessed on June 27, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.teammelli.com/matchdata/details/matchdetails.php?id=98
- ↑ a b rsssf.com: Iran - Record International Players (different information from FIFA in brackets)
National teams of current associations of the AFC:
Afghanistan |
Australia |
Bahrain |
Bangladesh |
Bhutan |
Brunei |
China |
Guam |
Hong Kong |
India |
Indonesia |
Iraq |
Iran |
Japan |
Yemen |
Jordan |
Cambodia |
Qatar |
Kyrgyzstan |
Kuwait |
Laos |
Lebanon |
Macau |
Malaysia |
Maldives |
Mongolia |
Myanmar |
Nepal |
North Korea |
Northern Mariana Islands † |
Oman |
East Timor |
Pakistan |
Palestine |
Philippines |
Saudi Arabia |
Singapore |
Sri Lanka |
South Korea |
Syria |
Tajikistan |
Taiwan |
Thailand |
Turkmenistan |
Uzbekistan |
United Arab Emirates |
Vietnam
National teams of former AFC associations:
Federation of Malaya |
Israel |
Kazakhstan |
North Yemen |
North Vietnam |
South Yemen |
South Vietnam
Other national and national teams in Asia:
Armenia |
Azerbaijan |
Georgia |
Russia |
Soviet Union |
Turkey |
United Arab Republic |
Cyprus
National teams of the associations of the other confederations of FIFA :
CAF (Africa) |
CONCACAF (North and Central America, Caribbean) |
CONMEBOL (South America) |
OFC (Oceania) |
UEFA (Europe)
† Associate AFC member but not a FIFA member.