Iran national football team

The Iran national football team is the national team of Iran. It is controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation and is one of the strongest teams in Asia. They are the second ranked Asian team behind Australia in FIFA's latest World Rankings. Iran are currently ranked No.47 in the world. Iran play their home games in the massive Azadi (Freedom) Stadium which was built in the mid 1970s with a capacity of over 100,000. The Iranian national football team is also known as Team Melli.

Iran won the Asian Cup three times in a row (1968, 1972, 1976) and have finished third four times. In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup and lost two of their three group stage games against the Netherlands and Peru. However, they managed to create a shocker by drawing against the famous Scotland side 1-1 with a late Iraj Danaeifard goal.

After the 1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside during the mid 1980s due to internal unrest and the Iran-Iraq War although rumors saying that Iran didn't play football during that time are untrue. Football managed to make its revival in the early 1990s with new talents like Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri. In November 1997, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after beating Australia in a close playoff series. Both games finished undecided, but Iran qualified due to the away goals rule. Iran held Australia to a 1-1 draw at home, and a 2-2 draw in Melbourne. Because Iran scored more away goals than Australia, they qualified for the 1998 World Cup. Iran recorded their first win in the World Cup final tournament in 1998, 2-1 against the USA.

This Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement on both sides because of the countries' political stance on each other after the revolution in Iran. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or politics in sports both sides took ceremonial pictures embracing each other and gave each other gifts and flowers before kickoff. The number of "footy fanatics" in Iran has increased exponentially in the last two decades. Football can be seen everywhere in Iran. Kids playing football in narrow streets is a very common sight, particularly south and east of Tehran. This style of football named "gol-kūchīk" ("small-net") is normally played with the signature purple or red and white balls sold almost in every Iranian "dokān" or convenience store. Street football is usually played with "dolayeh" ("two-layered") or "selayeh" (triple-layered) plastic balls, because the single rubber ball alone is hard to control. One plastic ball is cut and the other is forced into its hard plastic shell to make a "dolayeh" plastic ball. Because street football is played in small and closed areas (and often with very small nets), Iranian players are often technically gifted, but conversely are often weaker on defending long balls and set-pieces.

On June 8, 2005, Iran together with Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, making it Iran's 3rd appearance on the world stage of football. The qualification round both in 2001 and 2004-05 resulted in mass celebrations, hysteria and rioting, causing internal chaos and unrest between youth and government officials. The Iran versus Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers in Tehran was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations.

As of July 2006, Iran is ranked 47 in the FIFA World Rankings.

World Cup record

1930 to 1970 - Did not enter
1974 - Did not qualify
1978 - Round 1
1982 - Withdrew
1986 - Disqualified for refusal to play at neutral sites
1990 - Did not qualify
1994 - Did not qualify
1998 - Round 1
2002 - Did not qualify
2006 - Round 1

Asian Cup record

1956 - Did not enter
1960 - Round 1
1964 - Did not enter
1968 - Champions
1972 - Champions
1976 - Champions
1980 - Third place
1984 - Fourth place
1988 - Third place
1992 - Round 1
1996 - Third place
2000 - Quarterfinals
2004 - Third place

West Asian Football Federation Championship record

2000 - Winners
2002 - Third Place
2004 - Winners
2006 - Qualified

2006 World Cup Squad

Head coach: Branko Ivanković

Foolad}} SV Hamburg}} Saba Battery}} Saba Battery}} F.C. Messina}} Osasuna}} 1. FC Kaiserslautern}} FC Bayern Munich}} Hanover 96}} Saba Battery}} Sharjah FC}} Pas Tehran}} Foolad}} Abu Muslem}} Al Nasr}} Esteghlal Tehran}} Persepolis Tehran}} Sepahan}} Esteghlal Tehran}} Pas Tehran}} Persepolis Tehran}} Esteghlal Tehran}} Saipa FC}}

Tentative starting line-up and formation

4-2-3-1 formation

2006 World Cup information

Iran lost their first game of 2006 FIFA World Cup to the Mexican side because of a defensive mistake. The final score, 3-1, was brought about by goals from Omar Bravo and Zinha for Mexico, with Yahya Golmohammadi scoring the only Iran goal. Iran played Portugal in group D in Frankfurt on the 17th. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Deco in the 63rd min and Christiano Ronaldo in the 80th min (penalty). In this match Javad Nekounam (19 min), Mehrzad Madanchi (31 min), Hossein Kaebi (72 min) and Yahya Golmohammadi (87 min) received yellow cards. The two losses meant Iran was eliminated from competition for the second round before their third and final game against Angola. Iran drew 1-1 with Angola on the 21st of June, with the goal scored by Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh in the 75th minute, 15 minutes after the Angolan goal.

External links

Asian national football teams | Football in Iran