Iranian national soccer team / world championships

Iran
تیم ملی فوتبال ایران

World Cup record goalscorer:	8 players (1 each)
World Cup record players:	Mehdi Mahdavikia and Andranik Teymourian (6 each)
Rank :	46
Balance sheet
15 World Cup games 2 wins 4 draws 9 defeats 9:24 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Iran 0: 3 Netherlands Mendoza , ARG ; June 3, 1978
Biggest World Cup victories Iran 2: 1 USA Lyon , FRA ; June 21, 1998 Iran 1-0 Morocco Saint Petersburg , RUS ; June 15, 2018
Biggest World Cup defeats Iran 0: 3 Netherlands Mendoza , ARG ; June 3, 1978 Iran 1: 4 Peru Córdoba , ARG ; June 11, 1978
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	5 ( first : 1978 )
Best results	Preliminary round 1978 , 1998 , 2006 , 2014 , 2018
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of June 25, 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Iranian national soccer team at world championships . Iran took part in a soccer World Cup for the fifth time in 2018, but has never made it through the preliminary or first final round.

overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				Not a member of FIFA
1934	Italy	not participated				Not a member of FIFA
1938	France	not participated				Not a member of FIFA
1950	Brazil	not participated
1954	Switzerland	not allowed				Application filed too late
1958	Sweden	not participated
1962	Chile	not participated
1966	England	not participated
1970	Mexico	not participated
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Australia failed.
1978	Argentina	1. Final round	Netherlands , Scotland , Peru	14th	Heshmat Mohajerani	Eliminated as last group
1982	Spain	not participated
1986	Mexico	not allowed				Iran refused to play in a neutral place and was therefore excluded.
1990	Italy	not qualified				China failed in the first round of qualification . China then failed in the final qualifying round.
1994	United States	not qualified				In the qualification in the final round of Saudi Arabia and South Korea failed.
1998	France	Preliminary round	Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , USA , Germany	20th	Jalal Talebi	FIFA Fair Play Award for behavior before and during the game against the USA
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the qualification in the intercontinental playoff against Ireland failed.
2006	Germany	Preliminary round	Mexico , Portugal , Angola	25th	Branko Ivanković
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the qualification in the fourth round, South and North Korea failed.
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Nigeria , Argentina , Bosnia and Herzegovina	28.	Carlos Queiroz
2018	Russia	Preliminary round	Morocco , Spain , Portugal	18th	Carlos Queiroz	Eliminated with one win, one defeat and one draw
2022	Qatar

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships)

• No participation as no FIFA member or no or late registration: 10 × (48%; 1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 and 1982)
• Not permitted: 1 × (5%; 1986)
• Unqualified: 5 × (24%; 1974, 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2010)
• Athletic qualification: 5 × (24% or 50% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 5 × (24%; 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014 and 2018)

World Cup tournaments

World Championships 1930 to 1970

The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran was founded in 1920, but Iran did not play its first international match until 1941 and did not join FIFA until 1945. Therefore, Iran could not participate in the first three World Cup tournaments. But there was no registration for the next five qualifications either, and for 1954 the registration was filed too late, so that it was not admitted.

1974 World Cup

After Iran had become Asian champions in 1968 and 1972 , they wanted to qualify for the first World Cup in Germany and take part in the qualification for the second time after 1954. The first round with Syria , Kuwait and North Korea , which participated for the Indians who had jumped off, took place in Tehran in May 1973 . On May 4, 1973, Iran played its first World Cup qualifier and parted goalless with North Korea. Two days later, the 2-1 win against Kuwait was the first victory in World Cup qualification. In the end, Iran was group winners in the second round and had to face Australia . In Sydney they lost 3-0, so the 2-0 second leg was not enough to reach the playoffs. Australia was able to qualify as Asia-Oceania representative for the World Cup in the Federal Republic of Germany by playing three games against South Korea .

World Championship 1978

In the first qualifying round , Iran, who had become Asian champions for the third time in 1976 , prevailed with four wins against Saudi Arabia and Syria. Iraq , which was originally drawn , had withdrawn. In the second round, South Korea, Kuwait, Australia and Hong Kong were the opponents and with six wins and two draws Iran prevailed as group winners and qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

In Argentina, Iran met runners-up Netherlands in the first World Cup game in their history and lost 3-0. In the second group game, Iraj Danaeifard scored their first World Cup goal in a 1-1 draw against Scotland and the Iranians won their first point at a World Cup. The last group game against Peru was then lost 4-1. With that, Iran said goodbye to the group bottom for 20 years from the World Cup stage.

World Championship 1982

Due to the Islamic revolution and the first Gulf War , football in Iran almost came to a standstill in the 1980s. As a result, Iran decided not to qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

1986 World Championship

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Mexico , Iran, which was supposed to play against Bahrain and South Yemen , and Iraq because of the first Gulf War should play their home games on a neutral pitch. While Iraq did so and still qualified for the first time, Iran refused and was therefore excluded.

World Cup 1990

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Italy , Iran could not prevail against China in the first group stage . Both had 10: 2 points in the end, but the Chinese had scored more goals against the other two group opponents Bangladesh and Thailand . The direct comparison (2: 0 and 2: 3) also spoke for the Chinese. China finished fourth in the final AFC group of six and could not qualify for the World Cup finals in Italy.

World Championship 1994

In qualifying for the World Cup in the USA , Iran was able to prevail as group winners at tournaments in Iran and Syria against the tied Syrians , Oman and Taiwan , Myanmar - which was also drawn - did not take part. In the final group with Saudi Arabia , Japan , South Korea , Iraq and North Korea , Iran only finished fifth and could not qualify for the World Cup finals.

World Championship 1998

In qualifying for the second World Cup in France , Iran was initially able to prevail as group winners at tournaments in Iran and Syria against Kyrgyzstan , Syria and the Maldives . In the second round, Iran took second place behind Saudi Arabia, which qualified directly for the World Cup, ahead of China, Qatar and Kuwait . So the Iranians had to compete against Japan, the runner-up of the other group. The Iranians lost the game played in Malaysia with 2: 3 after extra time, but then had the chance to qualify for the World Cup by playing against the Oceania winner Australia. After a 1-1 draw at home, a 2-2 draw was won in the second leg, which meant that Iran qualified for the World Cup for the second time due to the away goals rule .

In France, Iran was drawn into a politically explosive group, because there Iran met the USA , with whom there has been an open conflict since the overthrow of the Shah . Other opponents were European champions Germany and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , against which they lost 1-0 in the first game. Before the game against the USA, the players presented each other with white roses and after a fair game, which was won 2-1, both teams lined up for a joint farewell photo. For this behavior, both teams received the fair play award from FIFA at the end of 1998. In the end they lost 2-0 to Germany. With third place in the group and the first World Cup victory, Iran said goodbye to the World Cup for eight years.

World Championship 2002

In addition to the two co-hosts South Korea and Japan, two other Asian teams qualified directly for the first World Cup in Asia . Another had the chance to qualify via the intercontinental playoffs. In the first round, Iran won a tournament in Iran as group winners against Guam and Tajikistan . Myanmar had waived and, unlike the other groups, there was no second half of the season. With the 21-0 win against Guam, the Iranians achieved their highest international win. In the second round, however, Saudi Arabia was stronger. Iran took second place ahead of Bahrain , Iraq and Thailand . Saudi Arabia was thus able to qualify directly. Iran then had to face the United Arab Emirates in the group runners-up play-offs and won both games (1-0 and 3-0), but then failed in the intercontinental playoffs to Ireland (0-2 and 1-0 ).

World Championship 2006

Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh scores the 1-1 draw against Angola

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Germany , Iran only had to compete in the second round and was drawn into a group with Jordan , Qatar and Laos . With five wins and only one loss in their home game against Jordan, Iran won the group and reached the third round. In this, the Iranians took second place behind Japan, ahead of Bahrain and North Korea and qualified for the World Cup finals. Bahrain then failed in the intercontinental playoffs to Trinidad & Tobago , which was able to qualify for the first time.

In Germany, the Iranians met Mexico in their first group game and lost 3-1. In the second game they lost 2-0 to Portugal and in the last game against World Cup newcomers Angola only a 1-1 draw. With that, Iran was eliminated as the bottom of the group.

World Championship 2010

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Africa , Iran only had to compete in the third round. In this, the Iranians met the United Arab Emirates , Syria and Kuwait . The group was won with three wins and three draws. In the fourth round, South and North Korea as well as Saudi Arabia and again the United Arab Emirates were the opponents. On the last day of the match, the Iranians had the chance to qualify for the World Cup with a win against the South Koreans who had already qualified for the World Cup. The 1-1 draw was not enough, however, as North Korea and Saudi Arabia separated 0-0 in the parallel game, which meant that Iran was only fourth in the group and both Koreas were qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

World Championship 2014

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Brazil , Iran only had to compete in the second round and beat the Maldives 4-0 and 1-0 . The third round, in which Qatar , Bahrain and Indonesia were the opponents, finished as group winners with no game lost. In the fourth round, South Korea , Uzbekistan , again Qatar and Lebanon were the opponents. Iran finished the group with two points more than South Korea, which also qualified, as the winner and qualified for the World Cup for the fourth time.

In Brazil, the Iranians first met Africa champions Nigeria and fought 0-0. In the second game against former world champions Argentina it was 0-0 for a long time. In the first minute of stoppage time, Lionel Messi scored the winning goal for the South Americans. In the last group game, the Iranians had the chance to qualify for the round of 16, which required a win against the already eliminated team of World Cup newcomers Bosnia and Herzegovina and a defeat for the Nigerians against Argentina. Nigeria then also lost in the parallel game against the South Americans, but Iran also lost 3-1. Bosnia and Herzegovina, against which they had previously won four times but never lost, achieved their first World Cup victory. As the bottom of the group, Iran was eliminated and Nigeria got into the knockout round despite the defeat.

World Championship 2018

In qualifying , the team met Guam , India , Oman and Turkmenistan in the second round . The Iranians did not lose a game, but drew twice, but were group winners and then faced South Korea , Uzbekistan , the People's Republic of China , Qatar and Syria in the third round . After the eighth game, a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan, the Iranians qualified as the third team for the finals. After that, they played two more draws and were the only Asian team to remain undefeated. Although they scored the fewest goals of all Asian qualifiers on the way to Russia, they also conceded the fewest goals.

In the first group game in the final against Morocco they were under pressure for a long time, but did not allow a goal. In the second half they got better into the game without first reaching the goal. In stoppage time, a Moroccan faked a shot by an Iranian into his own goal, which Iran won 1-0. In the second game against ex-world champions Spain they kept the 0-0 for a long time, but then had to accept the only goal of the game in the 54th minute. In the last game against European champions Portugal they needed a win to reach the knockout round or in a draw a defeat for the Spaniards against Morocco with two goals difference. The Iranians only came to a 1-1, which Karim Ansarifard secured in stoppage time with a converted hand penalty. Previously, goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand had saved a penalty shot by Cristiano Ronaldo . Since Spain scored a 2-2 win against Morocco in the parallel game with a goal in stoppage time, Iran was eliminated, but was able to improve by six places in the all-time ranking.

player

Ranking of the Iranian World Cup players with the most appearances

1. Mehdi Mahdavikia and Andranik Teymourian - 6 games in two tournaments

3. Ali Daei , Ehsan Hajsafi , Alireza Jahanbakhsh , Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei - 5 games in two and three (Shojaei) tournaments respectively

Ranking of the Iranian World Cup players with the most World Cup goals

1. Karim Ansarifard , Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh , Iraj Danaeifard , Hamid Reza Estili , Reza Ghoochannejhad , Yahya Golmohammadi , Mehdi Mahdavikia and Hassan Rowshan - 1 goal each

also an own goal by the Moroccan Aziz Bouhaddouz in favor of Iran

World Cup captains

• 1978: Ali Parvin
• 1998: Nader Mohammadkhani (1st game), Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh (2nd game)
• 2006: Ali Daei (1st and 3rd game), Yahya Golmohammadi (2nd game)
• 2014: Javad Nekounam
• 2018: Masoud Shojaei (1st game), Ehsan Hajsafi (2nd and 3rd game)

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

When it first participated in 1978, no legionaries were deployed. After that there were always some legionnaires in the squad, but never more than 14. Most (eight in total) played in Germany.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1978 (3)	0
1998 (3)	3 (in Germany)	Chodadad Azizi (3), Karim Bagheri (3), Ali Daei (3);
2006 (3)	6 (4 in Germany, 1 in Italy, 1 in the United Arab Emirates)	Wahid Haschemian (3), Ali Karimi (2), Mehdi Mahdavikia (3), Ferydoon Zandi (2); Rahman Rezaei (3), Javad Nekounam (2)
2014 (3)	9 (1 in Germany, 2 in England, 1 in Canada, 1 in Qatar, 1 in Kuwait, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Spain)	Daniel Davari (0); Ashkan Dejagah (3), Reza Ghoochannejhad (3); Steven Beitashour (0); Pejman Montazeri (3); Javad Nekounam (3); Alireza Jahanbakhsh (3); Alireza Haghighi (3); Masoud Shojaei (3)
2018 (3)	14 (1 in Belgium, 1 in England, 3 in Greece, 2 in Qatar, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Portugal, 3 in Russia, 1 in Sweden)	Ramin Rezaeian (3); Ashkan Dejagah; Karim Ansarifard (3), Ehsan Hajsafi (3), Masoud Shojaei (1); Morteza Pouraliganji (3), Mahdi Taremi (3); Reza Ghoochannejhad, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (3); Amir Abedzadeh ; Sardar Azmoun (2), Saeid Ezatolahi (2), Milad Mohammadi (2); Saman Ghoddos (3)

Players banned from World Championships

1978: Andranik Eskandarian received the second yellow card in the second group match against Scotland and was suspended for the last group match.

2006: Javad Nekounam received the second yellow card in the second group match against Portugal and was suspended for the last group match. In this also Mehrzad Madanchi received the second yellow card. Since Iran was eliminated, this had no effect.

Games

Iran has played fifteen World Cup games so far, two of which have been won and ten lost. Three games ended in a draw. Iran never met the host, the defending champion and the eventual world champion. Iran met World Cup newbies three times: in 1998 against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which is considered to be the successor to Yugoslavia, in 2006 against Angola and in 2014 against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

All games except for the last game against Portugal are unique so far. Iran played half of all games against European teams.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1	06/03/1978	0: 3	Netherlands	*	Mendoza , ARG	1. Final round	First game against the Netherlands
2	06/07/1978	1: 1	Scotland	*	Cordoba , ARG	1. Final round	First game against Scotland
3	06/11/1978	1: 4	Peru	*	Cordoba , ARG	1. Final round	First game against Peru
4th	06/14/1998	0: 1	Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	*	Saint-Etienne , FRA	Preliminary round	First game against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
5	06/21/1998	2: 1	United States	*	Lyon , FRA	Preliminary round	First game against the USA
6th	06/25/1998	0: 2	Germany	*	Montpellier , FRA	Preliminary round	First game against Germany
7th	06/11/2006	1: 3	Mexico	*	Nuremberg , DEU	Preliminary round
8th	06/17/2006	0: 2	Portugal	*	Frankfurt am Main , DEU	Preliminary round
9	06/21/2006	1: 1	Angola	*	Leipzig , DEU	Preliminary round
10	06/16/2014	0-0	Nigeria	*	Curitiba , BRA	Preliminary round
11	06/21/2014	0: 1	Argentina	*	Belo Horizonte , BRA	Preliminary round
12	06/25/2014	1: 3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	*	Salvador da Bahia , BRA	Preliminary round
13	June 15, 2018	1-0	Morocco	*	Saint Petersburg , RUS	Preliminary round	First game against Morocco
14th	June 20, 2018	0: 1	Spain	*	Kazan , RUS	Preliminary round	First game against Spain
15th	June 25, 2018	1: 1	Portugal	*	Saransk , RUS	Preliminary round

Highest victories and defeats

The two World Cup victories are also the highest victories against Morocco and the USA .

Iran suffered its biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Argentina : Preliminary round 2014 - 0-1 (only loss to Argentina)
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina : preliminary round 2014 - 1: 3 (only loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina)
•  Germany : Preliminary round 1998 - 0: 2 (also a 0: 2 in a friendly game)
•  Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Preliminary round 1998 - 0: 1 (only game against FR Yugoslavia)
•  Netherlands : 1st final round 1978 - 3-0 (only game against the Netherlands)
•  Peru : 1st final round 1978 - 1: 4 (only game against Peru)
•  Spain : Preliminary round 2018 - 0-1 (only game against Spain)

See also

• Football World - Statistics - Iran on fifa.com

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB).