IRAN FOOTBALL

17 FACTS ABOUT IRAN FOOTBALL

1. IT IS THE 5TH TEAM IN ASIA according to recent FIFA rankings.

2. The biggest defeat was in 1958 when it went down by 5-0 with South Korea


3. The player who played a lot of matches in Iran national team is Ali Daei

One of Iran national team squads

4. The current head coach is Carlos Queiroz

5. In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran to qualify.

6. Despite failing to qualify for either the 1990 or the 1994 World Cups, it was during this period that a number of quality players burst onto the Iranian football scene, laying the foundation for their second stab at World Cup glory in 1998.

7. Iran is 56th in the world FIFA rankings.

8. Another name for Iran national team is Team Melli

9. Iran qualified 3 times for world cup. (1978, 1998 and 2006)

Iran national team for women

10. Ashkan Dejagah is an Iranian international who plays for fulham in England.

11. Team Melli will complete the qulifiers in June with three consecutive matches on the 4th , 11th and 18th against Qatar in Doha, Lebanon at Azadi and finally Korea in Seoul receptively

12. The team which is at the top of Iran Premier currently is known as Esteghlal.

13. The top scorer in Iran Domestic premier league is Jalal Rafkhael who plays for Malavan FC. He has netted a total of 15 goals.

14. In Iran domestic league a total of 15 penalties have been granted in different league matches.

15. The 1st international friendly match was played against Afghanistan in 1941. The result was a 0 – 0 draw.

16. Iran has won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976), a championship record to which the team has not been able to add since, although they have finished third four times.

17. The 1st international FIFA tie was against Turkey in May, 1950. Turkey won by 6-1.