Iran national football team
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Template:National football team The Iran national football team is the national team of Iran and is controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation and is one of if not the strongest teams in Asia. Iran play there home games in the massive Azadi (Freedom) Stadium which was built in the mid 1970s with a capacity of over 100,000.
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 there 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 on a late Iraj Danaei Fard 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. It managed to make its revival in the early 1990s with new talent such as Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri. 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 with its main reason being the severed political ties between the two after the Revolution in Iran. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or political mixture in sports both sides took ceremonial pictures embracing each other and gave each other gifts and flowers before kickoff.
Iran's fans are very football crazy as are most of the Iranians living in and abroad the country always ready to travel wherever to cheer on their beloved "Team Melli".
On June 8, 2005, Iran was together with Japan the first country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup making this Iran's 3rd appearance on the World stage of football, causing mass celebrations for Iranians everywere. The qualification when mass celebrations and hysteria over their placing almost caused an internal chaos and unrest between youth and government officials.
Iran are, as of 2005, ranked within the Top 20 of the FIFA World Rankings with its highest peak at #17.
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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 - Qualified
Asian Cup record
- 1956 - Did not enter
- 1960 - Did not qualify
- 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
Current Squad
Goalkeepers
- 1 - Ebrahim Mirzapour - Foulad Khuzestan
- 21 - Mehdi Rahmati - Sepahan Esfahan
- 30 - Mohammad Mohammadi - Pirouzi Tehran
Defenders
- 4 - Yahya GolMohammadi - Pirouzi Tehran
- 5 - Rahman Rezaei - Messina, Italy
- 19 - Jalal Kameli Mofrad - Foulad Khuzestan
- 20 - Mohammad Nosrati - Paas Tehran
- 18 - Ali Badaavi - Foulad Khuzestan
- 13 - Hossein Kaebi - Al-Saad, Qatar
- 27 - Sattar Zar'e - Bargh Shiraz
Midfielders
- 6 - Javad Nekounam - Paas Teheran
- 14 - Moharram Navidkia - VfL Bochum, Germany
- 22 - Ali-Reza Nikbakht Vahdedi - Al-Wahda, UAE
- 17 - Iman Mobali - Foulad Khuzestan
- 12 - Ferydoon Zandi - Kaiserslautern, Germany
- 26 - Mohammad Alavi - Foulad Khuzestan
- 8 - Ali Karimi - Bayern Munich, Germany
Strikers
- 10 - Ali Daei - Saba Battery Tehran
- 9 - Vahid Hashemian - Hannover 96, Germany
- 2 - Mehdi Mahdavikia - Hamburger SV, Germany
- 16 - Reza Enayati - Esteghlal Tehran
- 15 - Arash Borhani- Paas Tehran
- 7 - Javad Kazemian- Pirouzi Tehran
- - Rasoul Khatibi - Sepahan, Esfahan
External links
- RSSSF archive of results 1941-1998 (http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/iran-intres.html)
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers (http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/iran-recintlp.html)
- RSSSF archive of coaches 1941- (http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/iran-coach.html)
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