The Iran women's national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, represents

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in international women's football around the world, and is controlled by the

Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI; , ''Fadrasion fotbal Jamehori Eslami Iran'') is the governing body for football (soccer), football in Iran. It was founded in 1920. The federation has been a member of FIFA since 1948 and a ...

(FFIRI). The Iran women's team played its first international match in May 1971 against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and first FIFA international in September 2005 against

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

History

Early years

In 1969, a group of Iranian women attended FIFA coaching classes for women's football in South Korea, Singapore and India. During their time in those countries they also watched women's football matches. Upon their return home, Iran Football Federation after many meetings decided to kick start women's football in Iran. Soon after, clubs such as Taj,

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

, Deyhim,

Oghab The Iranian Oghab (, meaning "Eagle") sometimes spelled as Akab and Okab missile is an unguided artillery rocket with a range of . It is spin-stabilized in flight but has a proven circular error probable in excess of , making it a highly inaccura ...

, and PAS formed women's football teams and a women's football league was established in Tehran. Persepolis women football team was coached by Alan Rogers whose assistant was

Ali Parvin Ali Parvin (; born 25 September 1947) is a retired Iranian association football, football player and coach. He is among the most prominent Iran, Iranian footballers. He played for the Iran national football team. During his career, he played as ...

. On 7 May 1971, visitors to Tehran,

took to the field and won against Iranian club side Taj S.C 2-0. The goals were scored by Medri and Bertolo. The Italians also missed a penalty kick by Nonni. It was the first time an Iranian women's team faced a foreign opponent. Two days later there was the second match which was between Iran women's national football team and Italy, with the Azzurre scoring five goals. Nonni, Gerwien, who scored a brace, Pesenti and Gualdi scored. Both matches were organized by Pari Abasalti editor-in-chief of Ettelaat-e Banuvan magazine who was also the president of Iran's Damsels and Ladies Association. The venue was Amjadieh stadium in Tehran. Iran women's national team composed of players selected from Taj, Persepolis, Deyhim, Oghab and PAS. Some of the players who played were Hengameh Afshar, Goli Rahani and Effat Mohammadi. The team's head coach was Aziz Asli. Women's football was abandoned as of

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

in 1979.

Refounded in 2005, Trying to start over

Refounded in 2004, the team reached second place at the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

West Asian Football Federation The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; ) is a regional sub-confederation of association football, governed under the Asian Football Confederation. Founded in 2001, it governs football, futsal and beach football for nations in West Asia. The W ...

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

held in September and October 2005. In May 2006, the women's team hosted their first foreign visitors when a club from Berlin, Germany called BSV Al-Dersimspor played out a 2–2 draw in Ararat Stadium,

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. The team won second place again at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2011 West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship.

2010s

Iran were briefly banned by FIFA from international competition in 2011 for wearing hijabs. This caused Iran to forfeit its bid to qualify for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The ban was lifted in 2012. In 2015 there were reports that eight players on the team were males awaiting sex change operations. Zahra Khajavi Iranian goalkeeper 2

On 27 December 2019, Zahra Khajavi broke the

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

record of Iranian football by not conceding any goal for 953 minutes. Also, she, along with Alireza Biranvand, are known as the record holders of the longest hand throws in Iranian football. As one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Iranian football, Khajavi was able to once again draw the attention of the domestic media to the Iranian women's national football team. Her achievements played a key role in the progress of the women's national football team in these years.

2020s

In the 2020s, women's football became more popular among young Iranians, both boys and girls. File:Zahra Khajavi Iranian goalkeeper.jpg, Khajavi playing for Iran in 2022 File:Iran women's national football team to the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.jpg, Iran national football team before the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup File:Iran women national football team vs Australia 2023 Persian lionesses.jpg, Iran against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 2023 Iran qualified for their first ever

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

when they won against Jordan on penalties in the qualifiers for the 2022 edition to be hosted in India. In Iran's historic debut, Iran impressed by holding India goalless, but following India's withdrawal due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Iran's only point was lost, and thus Iran was left vulnerable to China and Chinese Taipei, losing 0–7 and 0–5 in process and was eliminated as the worst third-placed team. In 2023, a report on

BBC Persian BBC Persian () is the Persian language broadcast station and subsidiary of BBC World Service which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Iran and the world. Its headquarters are in London, United Kingdom. Pe ...

reported the lack of facilities and friendly matches for the team. This report mentioned the "unwillingness" of the Iranian Football Federation to have a women's team. In the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Maryam Azmoun's team had one draw and two defeats (in second round of the tournament), although their slight loss against powerful

was predictable for the fans.

Team image

Nicknames

The Iran women's national football team have been known or nicknamed as the "Iranian Lionesses" (in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ''Shirzanan''). The Iran women's national football team is widely nicknamed the Persian stars since 2010. "''Parsi women''" or ''Persian ladies'' are another nicknames of the team in Asian football.

Media coverage and promotion

In the decades after

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, the media coverage of women's football in Iran had problems, but the matches of the women's national team are usually followed by Iranian men and women in the national and foreign media. Persian-language documentaries and sports programs are made about the team's winning potential and history.

Kits and crest

Kit suppliers

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

Home stadium

Iran plays their home matches on the Ararat Stadium.

Attendance of women in football matches

On 9 November 2018 Fatma Samoura, Secretary General of International Federation of Football Association

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

said she would ask Iranian government to end ban on women’s entry to sport stadiums. In September 2019 it was reported that Iranian female football star Sahar Khodayari, dubbed the "blue girl", died after self-immolating in front of a court in Tehran when she found out she could face a two year sentence for attempting to enter a football stadium to watch her team play.

Results and fixtures

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

2024

2025

Fixtures and Results (Iran)– Soccerway.com

Head-to-head record

, ''after the match against ''.

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Manager history

* Aziz Asli (1971) * Shahrzad Mozafar (2005) * Zhu Fang Shin (2008) * Maryam Irandoost (2010–2012) * Helena Costa (2012–2014) * Mahnaz Amirshaghaghi (2014–2016) * Maryam Azmoon (2016–2020) * Maryam Irandoost (2021–2022) * Maryam Azmoon (2022–2025) * Marziyeh Jafari (2025-)

Players

Current squad

*The following players were called up for the friendly matches against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on 10 and 12 June 2025.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the squad in the past year.

Current foreign-based players available for selection for national team

Players of Iranian heritage in other national teams

Unfortunately, due to strict FIFA rules, Iran women's team is unable to acquire experienced footballers who have many caps for other national teams. Two players of Iranian heritage in other national teams are Sara Doorsoun (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

), and Natasha Shirazi (

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Players from Iranian diaspora

The following players from Iranian diaspora (dual citizens) capped for Iran national team, the flag next to them shows their citizenship: * Katayoun Khosrowyar * Melika Mohammadi Several others such as the following never capped for the national team despite having capped for Iran's youth national team: * Sofia Askari * Kimya Raietparvar Taloukie * Vida Raietparvar Taloukie

Captains

* Zahra Ghanbari (20xx–present)

Honours

Regional

* WAFF Women's Championship : ''Runners-up:''

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

CAFA Women's Championship The CAFA Women's Championship, is an international women's association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), the governing body of football in Central ...

: ''Runners-up:''

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''

Olympic Games

AFC Women's Asian Cup