) ''(the national team)''
'' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association =

Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...

, FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank = , FIFA max = 15 , FIFA max date = August 2005 , FIFA min = 122 , FIFA min date = May 1996 , Elo Rank = , Elo max = 18 , Elo max date = 12 April 2005, 24 January 2019 , Elo min = 77 , Elo min date = 11 December 1959 , Confederation = AFC (Asia) , Sub-confederation =

CAFA CAFA or Cafa may refer to: CAFA * Caithness Amateur Football Association * Canadian Airborne Forces Association * Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards * Central Academy of Fine Arts, China * Central Asian Football Association * Class Action Fairnes ...

(Central Asia) , Head Coach = Leonid Slutsky , Captain =

Ehsan Hajsafi Ehsan Hajsafi ( fa, احسان حاج‌صفی; born 25 February 1990) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Greek Super League club AEK Athens and captains the Iran national team. Hajsafi is regarded as a utility ...

, Most caps =

Javad Nekounam Javad Nekounam ( fa, جواد نکونام; born 7 September 1980) is an Iranian retired professional association football, footballer who played as a central midfielder and is the current manager (association football), manager of Foolad F.C., F ...

(151) , Top scorer =

Ali Daei Ali Daei ( fa, ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian football manager and former player. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006 and played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich ...

( 109) , Home Stadium =

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آزادی Varzešgâh''-è Âzâdi''), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آریامهر Varzešgâh-è ''Âryâmehr''), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium wa ...

, pattern_la1 = _irn22h , pattern_b1 = _irn22h , pattern_ra1 = _irn22h , pattern_sh1 = FFFFFF , pattern_so1 = , leftarm1 = EC0000 , body1 = FFFFFF , rightarm1 = FFFFFF , shorts1 = FFFFFF , socks1 = FFFFFF , pattern_la2 = _irn22a , pattern_b2 = _irn22a , pattern_ra2 = _irn22a , pattern_sh2 = EC0000 , pattern_so2 = , leftarm2 = EC0000 , body2 = EC0000 , rightarm2 = EC0000 , shorts2 = FF0000 , socks2 = FF0000 , First game = 0–0
(

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

; 25 August 1941) , Largest win = 19–0
(

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

; 24 November 2000) , Largest loss = 6–1
(

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey; 28 May 1950)
, World cup apps = 6 , World cup first = 1978 , World cup best = Group stage (

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

) , Regional name =

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, Regional cup apps = 3 , Regional cup first =

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, Regional cup best = Quarter-finals (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

) , 2ndRegional name = Asian Cup , 2ndRegional cup apps = 15 , 2ndRegional cup first = 1968 , 2ndRegional cup best = Champions ( 1968,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

) , 3rdRegional name =

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

, 3rdRegional cup apps = 10 , 3rdRegional cup first =

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, 3rdRegional cup best = Champions (

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

) , medaltemplates = The Iran national football team,, name=, group= recognised by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

as IR Iran, represents

in men's international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

since their maiden match in 1941. It is controlled by the

. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of

and is governed in Asia by AFC. The team's home ground is the

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. At the continental level, Iran has won three Asian Cup championships in 1968,

and

. The nation's best performance at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

was reaching the quarterfinals at the 1976 Montreal Games. At the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, Iran have qualified six times (

and

) but have never progressed beyond the group stages; they have however, won three matches: against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1998,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in 2018 and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 2022.

History

Early years

The

Iranian Football Federation The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...

was founded in 1920. In 1926,

Tehran XI Tehran XI was an Iranian football club founded in 1926 from Tehran that was seen as the predecessor of the Iran's national football team. The players were chosen from Tehran Club, Toofan Club and Armenian Sports Club. History In 1926 Tehran XI ...

(selected players from

Tehran Club Tehran Club ( fa, کلوپ تهران) was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. It was the successor to Iran first football club Iran Club Iran Club ( fa, کلوپ ایران) was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran ...

, Toofan F.C. and Armenian Sports Club) traveled across the border to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, USSR, 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 that ''Team Melli'' played was on 23 August 1941, away at

in a 1–0 win against

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

while Iran's first

international match was on 25 August 1941, away at

. Iran won the Asian Cup three consecutive times ( 1968,

) to which the team has not been able to add since. Antal Dunai vs Parviz Ghelichkhani 1972

, Iran made its first appearance in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

after defeating

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Iran lost two of three group stage matches against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Team Melli managed to surprise some in the footballing community by securing one point in its first ever World Cup appearance against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

which saw

Iraj Danaeifard Iraj Danaeifard ( fa, ايرج دانايی فرد, 11 March 1951 – 12 December 2018) was an Iranian football player who played most of his career for Taj (currently Esteghlal) and also the Iran national football team. Club career Danaeifa ...

cancel out an own goal scored by

Andranik Eskandarian Andranik Eskandarian ( Armenian: , fa, آندرانیک اسکندریان, born 31 December 1951) is an Iranian former footballer. He played as a defender for the F.C. Ararat Tehran, Taj SC and New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer Leagu ...

for the 1–1 draw.

After the Revolution

After the

1979 Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside. During the

1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...

, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

(1980–88) and domestic football embraced the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup because of having to play on neutral ground. The war and political upheavals left Iran without major club competitions until 1989 when the

Qods League Qods may refer to: Geography * Jerusalem, a disputed city in the Levant, sometimes known as Qods from Al-Quds, the Arabic name * Qaleh-ye Qods, a village in Markazi Province, Iran * Qods, Iran, a city in Tehran Province, Iran * Qods, Semnan, a v ...

was established. A year later, the Qods League was renamed the Azadegan League. Despite failing to qualify for both the

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

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 the 1996 AFC Asian Cup (victories in that tournament included a 3–0 victory against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and a 6–2 victory against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

) and their second stab at World Cup glory in

1998–2006

In November 1997, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after eliminating

in a close playoff series. After being tied 3–3 on aggregate, Iran advanced due to the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

; Iran held Australia to a 1–1 draw at home, and a 2–2 draw in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. At their first game at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

against Yugoslavia, Iran lost 1–0 to a free kick by

Siniša Mihajlović Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian professional Footballer, football player and Football coach (association football), manager. During his career as a football ...

. Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game beating and eliminating the

2–1 with

Hamid Estili Hamid Reza Estili ( fa, حميد استيلی; born 1 April 1967) is an Iranian football coach and former player. Estili was a member of the Iran national team and is mostly remembered for his memorable goal and goal celebration against the Uni ...

and

Mehdi Mahdavikia Mehdi Mahdavikia ( fa, ; born 24 July 1977) is an Iranian professional football coach and former player usually played as a right winger or right back. He is currently under contract by Hamburger SV as a youth coach, and also manages his own ...

scoring goals for Iran. The Iran-US World Cup match was preheated with certain excitement because of each country's political stance after the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

and the

Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over t ...

. 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. Iran played against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the third game, losing 2–0 courtesy of goals from

Oliver Bierhoff Oliver Bierhoff (born 1 May 1968) is a German football official and former player who played as a forward. He has previously served as the national team director of the German Football Association. A tall, strong and prolific goalscorer, Bierh ...

and

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

, finishing third in the group. Iran finished first in the group stage of the 2000 Asia Cup but lost to

in the quarter-finals. They failed to qualify for

World Cup 2002 The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

, held in Asia for the first time, after an aggregate defeat to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, losing 2–0 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and winning 1–0 in

. The elimination saw manager

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; born 10 February 1935) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Saraje ...

step down from the top spot to be replaced by his assistant

Branko Ivanković Branko Ivanković (; born 28 February 1954) is a Croatian former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of the Oman national team. After a 12-year playing career at Varteks, Ivanković started his coaching career at the ...

who stepped up from assistant coach. After qualifying to the

Asian Cup 2004 The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champio ...

, Iran was drawn with

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the tournament. Iran finished second in the group. In the quarter-final clash against

, Iran won 4–3. They then lost to host

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

on penalty kicks, and won against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

4–2 to finish third place in the tournament. Iran equaliser

On 8 June 2005, Iran and

became the first countries other than hosts

to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. The Iran-Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers 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 the

at the end of the match. Iran started their Germany 2006 appearance with a match against North America's

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in Group D. Being 1–1 at half-time, defensive mistakes led to a Mexican 3–1 win, with goals from

Omar Bravo Omar Bravo Tordecillas (born 4 March 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is Guadalajara's all-time leading scorer in all matches. Club career Club Deportivo Guadalajara Omar Bravo has scored 132 goals ...

and

Sinha Sinha is a Sanskrit term which originates in the Indian subcontinent and is common in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, covering South Asia. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning " lion" or "brave person". Usage subcontinent In Indi ...

. Yahya Golmohammadi scored the only Iranian goal. Iran played against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the second game, losing 2–0. The goals were scored by

Deco Anderson Luís de Souza (born 27 August 1977), known as Deco (), is a retired professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking or central midfielder. Born and raised in Brazil, he acquired Portuguese citizenship and played for Po ...

and a penalty from

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. Iran were eliminated from the competition before their third and final game against

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, a 1–1 draw.

Temporary suspension

In November 2006, Iran was suspended by

from all participation in international football on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association. The ban lasted less than a month and as a dispensation was given to allow the Iran under-23 team to participate in the football competition of the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, fixtures were unaffected.

2007–14

The

IRIFF The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...

appointed

Amir Ghalenoei Ardeshir "Amir" Ghalenoei ( fa, , born 21 November 1963 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian football coach and former player who currently manages Gol Gohar Sirjan. He has been the most successful coach in the Iran Pro League and managed several clu ...

as manager of Iran on 17 July 2006 to succeed

. After finishing first in the 2007 Asian Cup qualifying round two points ahead of

, 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. After a period of discussion in the Iranian football federation, his contract was not renewed and Team Melli was left with a caretaker manager for several months. Then-leading international goalscorer

was chosen to become the new manager after Spanish coach

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

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. Iran was placed with

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

in the third round of 2010 World Cup qualifying. Ali Daei resigned from his position as the Iranian national coach on 29 March 2009, replaced by

Afshin Ghotbi Afshin Ghotbi ( fa, افشین قطبی, born 8 February 1964 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American football coach who works as head coach of Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Afshin Ghotbi was born in Tehran. He is the son ...

. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after finishing fourth overall in its group. During the final game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

on 17 June 2009, seven members of the team wore green wristbands in support of the

Iranian Green Movement The Iranian Green Movement ( fa, جنبش سبز ایران) or Green Wave of Iran ( fa, موج سبز ایران), also referred to as the Persian Awakening or Persian Spring by the western media, refers to a political movement that arose after ...

during the

2009 Iranian election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...

. Initial rumors and false reports were that all seven players were banned for life by the

, however, state-run media claimed that all seven had "retired". On 24 June 2009,

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. Iran-Maldavies

Iran renewed the contract with

until the end of

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

and the team qualified to the tournament with 13 points as the group winners. During the final

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

match against

, several Iranian players started the match wearing green

armband An armband is a piece of material worn around the arm. They may be worn for pure ornamentation, or to mark the wearer as belonging to group, or as insignia having a certain rank, status, office or role, or being in a particular state or condit ...

s or

wristband Wristbands are encircling strips worn on the wrist or lower forearm. The term can be used to refer to a bracelet-like band, similar to that of a wristwatch, to the cuff or other part of a sleeve that covers the wrist, or decorative or function ...

s, a symbol of protest at the outcome of the Iranian presidential election. Most removed them at half-time. The newspaper ''Iran'' reported that Ali Karimi,

Hosein Kaebi Hossein Kaebi ( fa, حسین کعبی, born September 23, 1985) is a former Iranian professional football player who last played for Sepidrood and Perspolis among other clubs in Persian Gulf Pro League. Club career Kaebi started his football ...

and

Vahid Hashemian Vahid Hashemian Korbekandi ( fa, وحيد هاشميان; born 21 July 1976) is an Iranian football coach and former player who works as assistant coach to Dragan Skočić at Iran national team. He played as a forward, spending most of his ca ...

had received life bans from the Iranian FA for the gesture. However, the Iranian FA denied this claim in a response to

's inquiry saying that "the comments in foreign media are nothing but lies and a mischievous act." Head coach

also confirmed that it was a rumour and Iranian FA "has not taken any official stand on this issue."

qualified Iran for the 2011 Asian Cup and finished second in the

West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010 The 2010 WAFF Championship was the 6th edition of the West Asian Football Federation Championship, an international tournament for selected West Asian countries and territories. It was hosted by Jordan, after Lebanon was deemed not capable of ho ...

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. On 4 April 2011, former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

manager

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, ...

agreed to a two-and-a-half-year deal to coach the Iranian national team until the end of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil. Under Queiroz, Iran began their

World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

campaign successfully, defeating the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

4–0 in the first leg of their second round of qualifiers. After winning 5–0 on aggregate, Iran advanced to the third round of qualifiers where they were drawn with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

and

. Iran highlighted their position at the top of their group by defeating Bahrain 6–0 at home in the

as well as inviting former German youth international

Ashkan Dejagah Seyed Ashkan Dejagah ( fa, سید اشكان دژآگه, born 5 July 1986), known as Ashkan Dejagah, is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Persian Gulf Pro League club Foolad. He represented Germany at youth level ...

who scored twice on his debut against Qatar. After a 4–1 win at Indonesia, Iran qualified for the final round of direct qualifiers, the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. In the fourth round, Iran played South Korea,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in their group. Queiroz made new foreign-based additions to his squad, adding players such as

Reza Ghoochannejhad Reza Ghoochannejhad Nournia ( fa, رضا قوچان‌نژاد نورنیا; born 20 September 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also known as Gucci in Belgium and Netherlands. Having played for the Nether ...

to his team. Iran started their 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 captain

. After a 1–0 loss in Tehran against Uzbekistan, Iran defeated Qatar 1–0 in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

and Lebanon 4–0 at home. In their last qualification match, Iran defeated South Korea 1–0 in Ulsan 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

, having reached the 2002 edition with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the 2010 edition with

, leading the latter to a knockout stage finish. Iran continued their winning streak, securing

to the

2015 Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament wa ...

months later as well. Since Queiroz's role as manager of the Iranian national team, he has been renowned for introducing players from the

Iranian diaspora Iranian diaspora refers to Iranian people or those who are of Iranian ancestry living outside Iran.German-Iranians

Daniel Davari Daniel Davari ( fa, دانیال داوری; born 6 January 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. Born in Germany of Iranian and Polish descent, he represented the Iran national team at internati ...

and

, Dutch-Iranian

, Swedish-Iranians

Omid Nazari Omid Nazari ( fa, امید نظری, born 29 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. His brother, Amin, also played for Omid's previous club, Malmö FF, in the Allsvenskan. Career Club career Malmö FF Nazari mad ...

and

Saman Ghoddos Saman Ghoddos ( fa, سامان قدّوس; born 6 September 1993) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, Striker (association football), striker or Winger (association football), winger for club ...

, and Iranian-American

Steven Beitashour Steven Mehrdad Beitashour ( ; fa, استیون مهرداد بیت‌آشور , ; born February 1, 1987) is a professional association football, soccer player who currently plays as a right-back for Colorado Rapids. Born in the United States, ...

among others. Iran vs

Iran competed in Group F alongside

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. Prior to the tournament, they founded the

Central Asian Football Association The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is an association of the football playing nations in Central Asia. In June 2014, the association was in principle approved by the Asian Football Confederation and approved at the Extraordinary Congr ...

. In the opening match of the tournament on 16 June, Iran drew

0–0 making it their first clean sheet in the World Cup. In their next match, Iran was

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...

1–0 with a late goal from

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

and received praise after holding Argentina for 90 minutes while creating some attacking opportunities of their own. Iran was eliminated from the tournament in their next game, a 3–1 defeat to

. Iran's lone goal was scored by

. After the tournament, Queiroz declared he would resign as manager of Iran but later switched and extended his contract until the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

Late 2010s

Iran qualified for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

as group winners where Team Melli were the highest

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

. Iran faced

and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

. With the second highest number of fans in the tournament after hosts

, the Iranians defeated Bahrain 2–0 with limited preparations. A defensive-minded Iran then defeated Qatar 1–0 thanks to a

Sardar Azmoun Sardar Azmoun ( fa, سردار آزمون (Sardâr Âzmôn); born 1 January 1995) is an Iranian professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer L ...

goal before defeating UAE by the same scoreline to reach the top of their group. In the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Iran faced

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

who they had beaten weeks prior in a Exhibition game#International football, friendly match. Having received a controversial Red card (sport), red card in the first half, Iran competed with ten men, managing to score goals late in Overtime (association football), extra time to draw the match 3–3. In the ensuing Penalty shoot-out (association football), penalty shootout, Iran lost 7–6. Portugal and Iran match at the FIFA World Cup 2018 1

Portugal and Iran match at the FIFA World Cup 2018 1

Iran began their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with Exhibition game#International football, friendly matches against Chile national football team, Chile and Sweden national football team, Sweden in March 2015. Queiroz resigned from his managerial post thereafter due to disagreements with the

. On 14 April 2015, Iran were drawn with

, India national football team, India, Turkmenistan national football team, Turkmenistan and Guam national football team, Guam in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round#Group D, second round of qualifiers. On 26 April, Queiroz announced that he would continue as the manager of Iran for their 2018 World Cup campaign. Flag of Iran in Azadi Stadium

Iran became the second team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after a 2–0 win at home over

on 12 June 2017. They also clinched first place in their qualification 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round#Group A, group after South Korea's defeat to

. Iran won the first match against

after Aziz Bouhaddouz scoring an own goal. They then lost against Spain national football team, Spain with a goal scored by Diego Costa, with video assistant referees denying an Iranian equalizer. The third match against

ended in a draw after a Penalty (association football), penalty scored by Karim Ansarifard and because Morocco could only manage a 2–2 draw to Spain, Iran were eliminated. Iran's four points is the most received in any World Cup appearance. China-Iran 2019 AFC Asian Cup by Mehdi Zare 1

China-Iran 2019 AFC Asian Cup by Mehdi Zare 1

Having qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup earlier, Iran was drawn into 2019 AFC Asian Cup Group D, group D, where they shared fate with

, Vietnam national football team, Vietnam and Yemen national football team, Yemen. Iran opened their tournament against Yemen slower and almost conceded a goal but after 10 minutes, Iran regained the ground and proved more dominant in certain aspects, thrashing Yemen 5–0. A 2–0 win over the Vietnamese side gave Iran direct qualification to the knockout stage. Iran ended their group stage with a goalless draw over neighbor Iraq and took first place. After the group stage, Iran encountered

, with a defending mistake almost costing Iran's chances but Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri's penalty was saved by Alireza Beiranvand. Iran then defeated Oman 2–0 to reach the last eight. In the quarter-finals against a defensive

, Iran outclassed the Chinese 3–0 to meet

in the semi-finals. Iran missed the opportunity to reach the final once again when they fell 3–0 with all three goals scored in second half.

2020s

Iran was the highest-ranked team to be seeded in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. Iran was drawn into the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round, second round where they would have to deal with two Arab countries,

and

, along with Cambodia national football team, Cambodia and Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong. Iran, under new Belgian manager Marc Wilmots, began with a 2–0 win over Hong Kong away. After the death of Sahar Khodayari, the 14–0 win over Cambodia allowed select Iranian women to enter the stadium for the first time since the Iranian Revolution, 1979 Islamic Revolution. Their next away encounters against Bahrain and Iraq went on to be consecutive defeats which Iran lost 0–1 and 1–2, respectively. 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. The COVID-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 coach Dragan Skočić; but with Bahrain losing its home support as an advantage, and Iraq assured a place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Third Round, final phase, Iran was able to stage a comeback, occupying first place and, together with Iraq, progressed to the final phase. Iran became the thirteenth team to qualify for the 2022 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. Iran's World Cup preparation friendly match against Canada men's national soccer team, Canada at BC Place in June 2022 was cancelled by the Canadian Soccer Association amid opposition and mounting criticism, namely in regards to the Iranian government's role in shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. 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's Sex segregation in Iran#Sport events, blocking of Iranian women from their stadiums, their supplying of weapons to Russia during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, invasion of Ukraine, and the treatment towards protesters during the Mahsa Amini protests. However, Iran started its World Cup campaign with a nightmare, losing 2–6 to England national football team, England in the opening game as Iran suffered the worst ever loss in its FIFA World Cup history. The Iranian team notably made headlines in their opening match against England after refusing to sing the National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, national anthem in solidarity with the Mahsa Amini protests, with some Iranian supporters cheering against their own team or 2022 FIFA World Cup controversies#Iranian protests, boycotting their team amidst the ongoing protests as they felt the team was representing the government. In the following match against

, amidst the boos and whistles from 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-revolutionary Lion and Sun Flag of Iran, flags and Woman, Life, Freedom, Women, Life, Freedom banners snatched from them by pro-government fans and stadium security at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. 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. Documents obtained by Iran International showed Iran was coordinating secret efforts with Qatar to control who attends the World Cup and restrict any signs of dissent. Ahead of Iran's final group stage match against the

, the Iranian players were reportedly called in to a meeting with members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC 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. 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. Many Iranians celebrated the defeat and one Iranian man was killed by security forces in Bandar-e Anzali after honking his car horn in celebration. Another Iranian fan was also arrested by Qatari police after he was wearing a shirt with the Woman, Life, Freedom slogan.

Team image

Nicknames

The Iranian national team has received several nicknames by supporters and media. The most common one used is ''"Team Melli"'' ( fa, تیم ملی), meaning "The National Team" in Persian language. Although the Iranian supporters have popularized ''"Team Melli"'', other nicknames for the team include "Persian Stars" (entitled since 2006 FIFA World Cup, the World Cup 2006) ''"Shiran e Iran"'', meaning "The Persian Lion, Iranian Lions" or "The Lions of Persia", ''"Shirdilan"'', "Lion Hearts" and "Princes of Persia" (used since 2011 AFC Asian Cup, AFC Asian Cup 2011). Iran's slogan for the

was ''Honour of Persia'', selected in an internet poll held by

. A more recently used nickname, due to the presence of the Asiatic cheetah on the 2014 World Cup jersey, is ''Youzpalangan'' which means "The Cheetahs".

Kits and crests

The Iran national football team's kit traditionally utilizes white and secondary kit is red, sometimes green shirts with white shorts and red socks are used.

Kit suppliers

The table below shows the history of kit supplier for the Iranian national football team.

Sponsorship

Primary sponsors include Adidas, Bank Pasargad, Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran, 9090, Golrang Industrial Group, Golrang, Oila and Kaspid. On 1 February 2014, Iran announced the addition of the endangered Asiatic cheetah on their

Kit (association football), kits in order to bring attention to its conservation efforts.

Rivalries

Iran and

are neighboring rivals, sharing a history. According to the ''Malay Mail'', "Emotions are always high when Iran and Iraq meet on the football pitch". In the contemporary era, especially during the reign of Saddam Hussein, the two countries had worsened relations and fought the

for 8 years. In 2001, for the first time in decades, an Iran-Iraq match was not held at a neutral venue. The rivalry was escalated after Iraq knocked Iran out of the

in controversial circumstances. Iran leads the series with Iran–Iraq football rivalry, 17 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses. Iran and

are ideological rivals. The game was ranked eighth in ''Goal.com's'' 2010 list of "Football's 10 Greatest International Rivalries". and ninth in ''Bleacher Report's'' 2014 list of "International Football's 10 Most Politically-Charged Football Rivalries" All of their matches have been competitive; none of them were Exhibition game, friendlies. The first match was played on 24 August 1975, with Iran defeating Saudi Arabia 3–0. Iran leads the series with Iran–Saudi Arabia football rivalry, 5 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses. Iran and

are top Asian rivals with over 50 years of history. As two of the leading competitors on the continent in the 1970s, the Korea-Iran rivalry is among the most storied in AFC Asian Cup, Asian football. Since their initial meeting in the 1958 Asian Games, they have faced off in a total of 32 games. Korea frequently held the upper hand in the early years of the competition, but things started to shift in the 21st century, twenty-first century. Iran has triumphed six times since 2006, while Korea has only defeated them once—by a score of 1-0 at the Asian Cup in 2011. Before Korea recovered its footing in 2017 and pushed the Middle Eastern team to a tie the past three times they faced off, Iran won four straight games after the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, 2011 Asian Cup.

Stadiums

Since 1972, Iran's national stadium has been

with a nominal capacity of 78,116 spectators. Azadi Stadium is the List of association football stadia by capacity, 28th largest association football stadium in the world, seventh in Asia and first in West Asia. A record was set in Azadi for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off), 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Australia national football team, Australia with over 128,000 in attendance. Since Iranian Revolution, 1979, the government Football revolution, restricts Women in Iran, Iranian women from entering the stadiums. 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.” After the death of Sahar Khodayari, select Iranian women were allowed to attend the match against Cambodia in October 2019. However, in March 2022, Iranian women were again blocked from entering the stadium for a World Cup qualifier. From 1942 to 1972, Amjadieh Stadium was Iran's national stadium. The other stadiums that Iran has been played international games are Takhti Stadium (Tabriz), Bagh Shomal and Yadegar-e-Emam Stadium (Tabriz), Yadegar Emam Stadium (

), Takhti Stadium (Tehran), Takhti Stadium (

), Enghelab Stadium (Karaj), Hafezieh Stadium (Shiraz), Takhti Stadium (Mashhad), Takhti Stadium and Imam Reza Stadium (Mashhad). The Iran National Football Camp is the team's training ground.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2022

2023

*FIFA International match days 2020–2024

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following 25 players have been named in Iran's 2022 FIFA World Cup final squad. ''Caps and goals correct as of 29 November 2022, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months. ^PRE ^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.
^COV Injured because of COVID-19

Player records

: :''Players in bold are still active with Iran.''

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Most capped goalkeepers

Captains

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

Olympic Games

AFC Asian Cup

Asian Games

WAFF Championship

:¹ Iran played their Iran B national football team, B team in this tournament however recognised as international "A" matches.

Head-to-head record

:''Last match updated: on 29 November 2022.'' *

considers Russia as the inheritor of the records of Soviet Union. *

considers Serbia as the inheritor of the records of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, FR Yugoslavia. *

considers Czech Republic as the inheritor of the records of Czechoslovakia.

FIFA World Rankings

Between December 2014 until May 2018, Iran was the highest-ranked team in Asian Football Confederation, Asia, the longest continuous period of time that a team has held that distinction. ; Highest FIFA ranking : 15 (July 2005) ; Lowest FIFA ranking : 122 (May 1996) ; Best mover : +65 (July 1996) ; Worst mover : –43 (October 1995) ''Last update was on 13 March 2021'' Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover

Honours

Summary

Continental

Asian Cup : Gold medal asia

Champions: 1968,

Third place: 1980 AFC Asian Cup, 1980, 1988 AFC Asian Cup, 1988, 1996 AFC Asian Cup, 1996, 2004 AFC Asian Cup, 2004 :Fourth place: 1984 AFC Asian Cup, 1984 :Semi-finals: 2019 AFC Asian Cup, 2019 *

Gold Medal:

, Football at the 1990 Asian Games, 1990, Football at the 1998 Asian Games, 1998, Football at the 2002 Asian Games, 2002 : Silver medal asia

Silver Medal:

, Football at the 1966 Asian Games, 1966

Regional

*West Asian Football Federation Championship : Champions: West Asian Football Federation Championship 2000, 2000, West Asian Football Federation Championship 2004, 2004, West Asian Football Federation Championship 2007, 2007*, West Asian Football Federation Championship 2008, 2008 : Runners-up: 2010 West Asian Football Federation Championship, 2010 : Third place: 2002 West Asian Football Federation Championship, 2002 *ECO Cup : Champions: 1965 RCD Cup, 1965, 1970 RCD Cup, 1970, 1993 ECO Cup, 1993 : Runners-up: 1967 RCD Cup, 1967, 1969 RCD Cup, 1969, 1974 RCD Cup, 1974** ^* as Iran B national football team, B Team
^** as Malavan F.C.

Intercontinental

*AFC/OFC Challenge Cup : Champions: AFC – OFC Challenge Cup#2003, 2003 *Afro-Asian Cup of Nations : Runners-up: Afro-Asian Cup of Nations#1991 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, 1991

Minor tournaments

*LG Cup (association football), LG Cup: 4 Champions, 4 Third place *Iran national football team records and statistics#Minor Tournament, Minor Tournament: 5 Champions, 6 Runners-up, 4 Third place

Notes

References

External links

*
Iran profile
at FIFA.com
Extensive archive of Team's results, squads, campaigns and playersPlayers Profile, Articles, Statistics and Gallery of National TeamIran Team Qatar 2022
{{Navboxes, title=Asian Cup Finalists, list1= {{1968 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1972 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1976 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1980 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1984 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1988 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1992 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{1996 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{2000 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{2004 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{2007 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{2011 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{2015 AFC Asian Cup finalists {{2019 AFC Asian Cup finalists Iran national football team, AFC Asian Cup-winning countries Asian national association football teams Football in Iran