Team Overview
The Iran national football team ( Persian : تیم ملی فوتبال مردان ایران , romanized : Team-e Melli-ye Futbâl-e Mardân-e Irân ), recognised as IR Iran by FIFA since 2018, represents Iran in men's international senior football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). At the continental level, Iran has won three AFC Asian Cup championships in 1968 , 1972 , and 1976 . They have also won three Asian Games in 1974 , 1990 , and 1998 . The nation's best performance at the world level was reaching the quarter-finals at the 1976 Summer Olympics . At the FIFA World Cup , Iran have qualified seven times ( 1978 , 1998 , 2006 , 2014 , 2018 , 2022 and 2026 ) but have never progressed beyond the group stages; they have however, won three matches: against the United States in 1998, Morocco in 2018, and Wales in 2022. At the regional level, Iran has won four WAFF Championships and one CAFA Nations Cup . The team also won intercontinental AFC–OFC Challenge Cup in 2003.
2026 Fixtures
| Date | Match | Group / Round | Venue | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-15 18:00 UTC-7 | IR Iran vs New Zealand | Group G | Los Angeles (Inglewood) | SCHEDULED |
| 2026-06-21 12:00 UTC-7 | Belgium vs IR Iran | Group G | Los Angeles (Inglewood) | SCHEDULED |
| 2026-06-26 20:00 UTC-7 | Egypt vs IR Iran | Group G | Seattle | SCHEDULED |
Honours
| Intercontinental: Afro-Asian Cup of Nations Runners-up (1): 1991 |
| Intercontinental: AFC–OFC Challenge Cup Champions (1) : 2003 |
| Continental: AFC Asian Cup Champions (3) : 1968 , 1972 , 1976 Third place (6): 1980 , 1988 , 1996 , 2004 , 2019 , 2023 |
| Continental: Asian Games 1 Gold medal (3) : 1974 , 1990 , 1998 Silver medal (2): 1951 , 1966 |
| Regional: WAFF Championship Champions (4) : 2000 , 2004 , 2007 *, 2008 Runners-up (1): 2010 Third place (1): 2002 |
| Regional: CAFA Nations Cup Champions (1) : 2023 Runners-up (1): 2025 |
| Regional: West Asian Games Gold medal (1) : 1997 Runners-up (1): 2002 Third place (1): 2005 |
| Friendly: ECO Cup Winners : 1965 , 1970 , 1993 Runners-up: 1967 , 1969 , 1974 ** |
| Friendly: LG Cup Winners : 2001 , 2002 (Morocco) , 2002 (Iran) , 2006 Third place: 2000 |
| Friendly: Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament Winners : 1982 |
| Friendly: Iran Friendship Cup Runners-up: 1969 |
| Friendly: Cyrus International Tournament Winners : 1971 |
| Friendly: Iran International Tournament Winners : 1974 |
| Friendly: Fajr International Tournament Runners-up: 1986 |
| Friendly: Lunar New Year Cup Runners-up: 2003 Third place: 1998 |
| Friendly: Ciao February Cup Runners-up: 1999 |
Competition Records
FIFA World Cup
| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1930 | Not a FIFA member | No qualification | ||||||
| 1934 | Not a FIFA member | |||||||
| 1938 | ||||||||
| 1950 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||
| 1954 | ||||||||
| 1958 | ||||||||
| 1962 | ||||||||
| 1966 | ||||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||
| 1974 | Did not qualify | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | |
| 1978 | First round | 14th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
FIFA World Cup
| Iran's World Cup record | |
|---|---|
| First match | Netherlands 3–0 Iran (3 June 1978; Mendoza , Argentina) |
| Biggest win | Wales 0–2 Iran (25 November 2022; Al Rayyan , Qatar ) |
| Biggest defeat | England 6–2 Iran (21 November 2022; Al Rayyan , Qatar ) |
| Fastest Goal | 36th minute, Yahya Golmohammadi , vs Mexico (11 June 2006; Nuremberg , Germany) |
| Latest goal | 90+13th minute, Mehdi Taremi , vs England (21 November 2022; Al Rayyan , Qatar ) |
AFC Asian Cup
| AFC Asian Cup record | Qualification record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1956 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||
| 1960 | Did not qualify | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | |
| 1964 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||
| 1968 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 1972 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
| 1976 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 1980 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 6 |
| 1984 | Fourth place | 4th | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| 1988 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1992 | Group stage | 5th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 1996 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 6 |
AFC Asian Cup
| Iran's AFC Asian Cup record | |
|---|---|
| First match | Iran 2–0 Hong Kong (10 May 1968; Tehran , Iran ) |
| Biggest win(s) | Iran 8–0 South Yemen (8 June 1976; Tehran , Iran ) |
| Biggest defeat(s) | South Korea 3–0 Iran (11 December 1988; Doha , Qatar ) Iran 0–3 Japan (28 January 2019; Al Ain , UAE ) |
| Best result | Champions in 1968 , 1972 and 1976 |
| Worst result | 1992 (group stage) |
Olympic Games
| Summer Olympics record | Qualification record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1900 | Not an IOC member | No qualification | ||||||
| 1904 | ||||||||
| 1908 | ||||||||
| 1912 | ||||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||
| 1924 | ||||||||
| 1928 | ||||||||
| 1936 | ||||||||
| 1948 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 1952 | ||||||||
| 1956 | Withdrew | Withdrew |
Asian Games
| Asian Games record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1951 | Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 1954 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 1958 | Preliminary round | 14th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 1962 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 1966 | Runners-up | 2nd | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 6 |
| 1970 | Preliminary round | 8th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1974 | Champions | 1st | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 1978 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 1982 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 1986 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 2 |
| 1990 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
WAFF Championship
| WAFF Championship record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 2000 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 2002 | Third place | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 2004 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| 2007 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2008 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| 2010 | Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
| 2012 | Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2014 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 2019 –onwards | Not a WAFF member | |||||||
| Total | 4 titles | 7/8 | 28 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 56 | 16 |
CAFA Nations Cup
| CAFA Nations Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 2023 | Champions | 1st | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 2025 | Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| Total | 1 title | 2/2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 6 |
Current Squad
| Pos | Name | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||
| GK | Ahmad Gohari | 0 | 0 | Paykan |
| GK | Mohammad Khalife | 0 | 0 | Aluminium Arak |
| GK | Mohammad Reza Akhbari | 1 | 0 | Sepahan |
| GK | Nima Mirzazad | 0 | 0 | Mes Rafsanjan |
| GK | Parsa Jafari | 0 | 0 | Zob Ahan |
| Defenders | ||||
| DF | Abolfazl Jalali | 8 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| DF | Amin Hazbavi | 7 | 0 | Sepahan |
| DF | Aref Aghasi | 6 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| DF | Danial Esmaeilifar | 6 | 0 | Tractor |
| DF | Hossein Abarghouei | 1 | 0 | Persepolis |
| DF | Majid Hosseini | 30 | 0 | Kayserispor |
| DF | Masoud Mohebi | 0 | 0 | Kheybar |
| DF | Mohammad Mehdi Zare | 0 | 0 | Akhmat Grozny |
| DF | Mohammad Naderi | 3 | 0 | Tractor |
| DF | Morteza Pouraliganji | 54 | 3 | Persepolis |
| DF | Sadegh Moharrami | 30 | 1 | Tractor |
| DF | Saman Fallah | 4 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| DF | Yaghoub Barage | 0 | 0 | Persepolis |
| Midfielders | ||||
| MF | Ali Gholizadeh | 44 | 7 | Lech Poznań |
| MF | Alireza Koushki | 2 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| MF | Aref Haji Eydi | 0 | 0 | Sepahan |
| MF | Hadi Habibinejad | 0 | 0 | Chadormalou |
| MF | Mehdi Hashemnejad | 7 | 0 | Tractor |
| MF | Mehdi Tikdari | 1 | 0 | Gol Gohar |
| MF | Mehran Ahmadi | 2 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| MF | Mohammad Askari | 0 | 0 | Sepahan |
| MF | Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad | 5 | 0 | Dynamo Makhachkala |
| MF | Mohammad Karimi | 10 | 0 | Sepahan |
| MF | Mohammad Khodabandelou | 1 | 0 | Persepolis |
| MF | Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi | 4 | 2 | Sepahan |
| MF | Mohammadhossein Sadeghi | 0 | 0 | Persepolis |
| MF | Omid Noorafkan | 40 | 1 | Sepahan |
| Forwards | ||||
| FW | Allahyar Sayyadmanesh | 9 | 1 | Westerlo |
| FW | Amirhossein Mahmoudi | 2 | 0 | Persepolis |
| FW | Ehsan Mahroughi | 0 | 0 | Foolad |
| FW | Kasra Taheri | 3 | 0 | Paykan |
| FW | Majid Aliyari | 2 | 2 | Sepahan |
| FW | Mohammad Omri | 0 | 0 | Persepolis |
| FW | Pouria Shahrabadi | 0 | 0 | Gol Gohar |
All-Time Leaders
| Most Caps | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Stat | Years |
| Javad Nekounam | 149 Caps | 2000–2015 |
| Ali Daei | 148 Caps | 1993–2006 |
| Ehsan Hajsafi | 145 Caps | 2008–present |
| Ali Karimi | 127 Caps | 1998–2012 |
| Jalal Hosseini | 115 Caps | 2007–2018 |
| Mehdi Mahdavikia | 110 Caps | 1996–2009 |
| Karim Ansarifard | 104 Caps | 2009–2024 |
| 104 | 60 Caps | 2015–present |
| Top Scorers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Stat | Years |
| Javad Nekounam | 149 Goals | 2000–2015 |
| Ali Daei | 148 Goals | 1993–2006 |
| Ehsan Hajsafi | 145 Goals | 2008–present |
| Ali Karimi | 127 Goals | 1998–2012 |
| Jalal Hosseini | 115 Goals | 2007–2018 |
| Mehdi Mahdavikia | 110 Goals | 1996–2009 |
| Karim Ansarifard | 104 Goals | 2009–2024 |
| 104 | 60 Goals | 2015–present |