Iran

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The Iranian Football Federation was founded in the year 1920. In 1926 Tehran XI (selected players from Tehran Club, Toofan F.C. as well as Armenian Sports Club) traveled across the border into Baku, USSR, this was the first football away match played by the Iranian team. The Tehran Select team is the precursor to Iran's national football team.

The first match Team Melli played was on 23 August 1941, away from Kabul with a 1-0 victory in the match against British India while Iran's first FIFA international game was played on August 25, 1941, away from Afghanistan. Iran was crowned in the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968 1973, 1972, and 1976) and the squad hasn't had the chance to add since.

in 1978 Iran was the first country to participate at the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran. Iran was beaten in two of its three group stage games in the group stage against Netherlands as well as Peru. The team Melli was able to shock some fans of football with a draw in its debut World Cup appearance against Scotland that saw Iraj Danaeifard equalize an own goal which was scored by Andranik Eskandarian to earn a 1-1 draw.

Following the 1979 Revolution the sport of football was ignored and discarded. In the 1980s, it was the case that Iranian national team didn't participate at World Cup competitions due to the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) and local football was able to accept the inevitable consequences of war. The team pulled out of the Asian qualifying matches to the 1982 World Cup and refused to take part in qualifying matches to the 1986 World Cup because of having to play on neutral grounds. The political turmoil and war caused Iran with no major club competitions until 1989, when there was the Qods League was established. A year later it was announced that there was a change in the name of the Qods League was changed to Azadegan League. Although it was not able to make it to neither the 1990 nor 1994 World Cups, it was claimed that during this time that a variety of high-quality players emerged onto the Iranian soccer scene and laid the basis to finish third in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup (victories in this tournament included a win of 3-0 in the final against Saudi Arabia and a 6-2 win over South Korea) and their second attempt to World Cup glory in 1998.

On November 27, 1997 Iran became eligible for 1998's World Cup after eliminating Australia in a tight playoff series. The two games were not decided, however Iran did get into the tournament due to the rule of away goals. Iran kept Australia to a draw of 1-1 at home, and then a 2-3 draw in Melbourne but, because Iran scored more goals away the team was qualified for the Cup.

In their first match of the Group F of the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Yugoslavia, Iran lost 1-0 to the goal of a free kick of Sinisa Mihajlovic. Iran won its debut World Cup victory in the second match, beating USA United States 2-1 with Hamid Estili and Mehdi Mahdavikia scoring goals for Iran. The Iran against the USA World Cup match was packed with anticipation because of the different political positions of each country following the Iranian revolution and the Iran hostage crisis. In a show of protest against all forms of hatred , or politics in sports, both teams gave each other flowers and gifts as well as were photographed in a ceremony prior to the match began. In the aftermath of losing against Iran The United States was eliminated from the World Cup.

Iran played Germany during the 3rd match. The match ended 2-0. It was achieved through Oliver Bierhoff and Jurgen Klinsmann. Two wins and one defeats meant that Iran finished third in the group standings but failed to advance through to the final round. (Farhad Majidi, and Mehdi Fonounizadeh were two of the players who were not at the event.)

Iran placed as the first team in group phase of the tournament , but was defeated by South Korea in the quarter-finals.

Iran was not able to make it to World Cup 2002 after an aggregate loss to Iran in the Republic of Ireland, losing 2 to 2-0 in Dublin and then winning by 1-0 in Tehran. The team's manager Miroslav Blazevic resign from the top position and replaced with assistant coach Branko Ivankovic, who was promoted as assistant coach.

After qualifying for at the Asian Cup 2004, Iran was drawn alongside Thailand, Oman and Japan in the tournament. Iran was second in the group. In the quarter-final match with South Korea, Iran won 4-3 in normal time. In the semi-finals Iran fell to host China via penalty kicks. Iran beat Bahrain 4-2 and finished in third in the tournament.

On the 8th of June, in 2005 Iran along with Japan were the only nation to be selected to play in the 2006 World Cup making it Iran's third appearance on the international soccer stage. The qualifying round during 2001 as well as 2004-05 culminated in celebrations, hysteria , and protests that caused internal chaos and anger between youth and officials of the government. The Iran match against Japan portion in 2006's World Cup qualifiers in Tehran which took place on the 24th of March in 2005 was the most attended qualifying match in all confederations. This match was ended by five fans killed and a number of others injured when they quit their seats at Azadi Stadium shortly before the conclusion of the game.

Iran began with their 2005 FIFA World Cup appearance with certain expectations from fans as well as media. The first game they played was played against Mexico within the group D. The score was 1-1 at half-time, but Iran ended up losing at the final whistle due to an error in defense. The final score of 3-1, was triggered through goals scored by Omar Bravo and Sinha for Mexico with Yahya Golmohammadi scoring only an Iran goal.

Iran was playing Portugal for the first match. The match ended by 2-0. It was scored through Deco as well as Cristiano Ronaldo (penalty). Two defeats meant that Iran was out of the tournament before their final match against Angola. Iran was able to draw 1-1 with Angola on the 21st of June, 2006, with Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh scoring Iran goal.

The month of November, 2006 saw Iran had been banned by FIFA from participation in international soccer due to government interference in the national soccer association. The suspension lasted for less than one month, and as exemption was granted to permit the Iran under-23 team to take part in the soccer competition during in 2006 Asian Games, fixtures were not affected

IRIFF has appointed Amir Ghalenoei as head coach of the Iran national team on the 17th of July, 2006, to replace Branko Ivankovic. After having finished second in qualifying rounds, 2 points clear of South Korea and then finishing first in the group stage of the final competition at the Asian Cup in Malaysia, Iran lost to South Korea in a penalty shoot-out in the quarterfinal match and was exiled in the 2007 Asian Cup. Ghalenoei was heavily criticized by the media. Following a lengthy discussion with the Iranian football body Ghalenoei's contract wasn't renewed. Team Melli was left with an interim manager for several months.

Ali Daei was chosen to be the new coach following Spanish manager Javier Clemente had been closer to becoming Iran's manager, but the talks fell apart when Daei was not willing to reside for a full time in the country. Iran was part of that same FIFA World Cup qualifying group as Kuwait, Syria and United Arab Emirates in the third round. They played at home and away against the three teams from group five. At the end of round four Ali Daei was let go from his post in the role of Iranian nation's coach on the 29th of March, 2009. The new coach was Afshin Ghotbi. Iran was not able to be able to qualify for in the World Cup in 2010. World Cup after ranking 4th overall in the group.

In the final match during the final game of 2010. FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Korea in Seoul on 17 June 2009, seven players of the team Javad Nekounam Ali Karimi, Hossein Kaebi, Masoud Shojaei, Mohammad Nosrati, Vahid Hashemian and captain Mehdi Mahdavikia on the 17th of June 2009, wore wristbands made of green to support the Iranian Green Movement during the 2009 Iranian elections protests. Initial reports and speculation suggested that the players had been exiled for forever according to the Iranian Football Federation, however the state-run media reported that the entire team were "retired". On the 24th of June 2009 FIFA sent a letter to the Iranian Football Federation asking for clarification regarding the situation. It was then informed that Iranian Football Federation replied that there was no discipline or taken on any players. Since 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, several of the players mentioned above have been able to play again for the national team , including Javad Nekounam Masoud Shojaei Mehdi Mahdavikia and Ali Karimi.

Iran extended its agreement with Afshin Ghotbi until the conclusion of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and the team was able to qualify for the competition with 13 points , which made them the winners of the group.

During the final qualifier fixture with South Korea, several Iranian players began the game with wristbands or armbands in green in protest against the results in the Iranian presidential election. They were removed at half-time. The newspaper Iran said it was reported that Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Kaebi and Vahid Hashemian received lifetime bans from the Iranian FA for the gesture. But the Iranian FA has denied the claim in a reply to FIFA's inquiry, saying that "the statements from foreign media outlets are just a lie and an act of mischief." Coach Afshin Ghotbi confirmed the rumour was just a rumour. Iranian FA "has not taken an official position on the matter."

Afshin Ghotbi managed to get himself a place in the his country's 2011 Asian Cup and finished second in the West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010 , just a few months prior to when the 11th Asian Cup. Iran managed to score all nine points during the first round of 2011 Asian Cup but after an extra-time goal by South Korea, Iran was not able to progress through to the semi-finals of the event.

On April 4, 2011 the the former Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz signed a contract for two and a half years to head for the Iranian National team up to the conclusion of 2014. FIFA World Cup in Brazil. With Queiroz, Iran began their World Cup qualification campaign successfully beating the Maldives by 4-0 in the initial part of their second qualifying round. After a 5-0 aggregate win, Iran advanced to the third round of qualifying where they will play Indonesia, Qatar and Bahrain. Iran showed their status in the group at the top when they defeated Bahrain with a 6-0 win at home in the Azadi Stadium, as well as inviting ex- German Youth international Ashkan Dejagah, who scored two goals on his debut in Qatar. After a win of 4-1 in Indonesia, Iran qualified for the final round of direct qualifying which was which was the 4th round. The fourth stage of the qualifiers, Iran was drawn with South Korea, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Lebanon in their group. Queiroz added foreign players to his team, including players like Reza Ghoochannejhad into his squad. Iran began the Fourth round in the Asian qualifying with a 1-0 victory in Uzbekistan. Team Melli was then drawn in Qatar and was defeated in Lebanon before sweeping South Korea at the Azadi 16 October, thanks to the goal scored by the captain Javad Nekounam. After a loss of 1-0 at Tehran in the match against Uzbekistan, Iran defeated Qatar by 1-0 during the match in Doha and Lebanon 4-1 at home. In their final qualifying game, Iran defeated South Korea with a 1-0 win in Ulsan Munsu, scoring a goal scored by Ghoochannejhad and led to their qualification for this year's FIFA World Cup as group winners, scoring 16 points. This means that Iran was the 3rd team Queiroz has been able to be a part of to the World Cup, having reached the 2002 edition alongside South Africa and the 2010 edition alongside Portugal and Portugal, guiding to a knockout phase. Iran kept their winning streak going and qualified for this year's Asian Cup months later as well.

In his role as the director for his team, the Iranian nation's team he's famous for introducing athletes from his Iranian diaspora in the national team. They include Germany-Iranians Daniel Davari and Ashkan Dejagah and Dutch-Iranian Reza Ghoochannejhad, Swedish-Iranians like Omid Nazari as well as Saman Ghoddos, as well as the Iranian American Steven Beitashour among others.

Iran was selected for 2014's FIFA World Cup as group winners and was in Group F along with Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sold-out Argentina ticket for the match was among top eight tickets bought for this year's edition of the competition. The 1st of June, 2014 Queiroz revealed his 23-man team. Before their participation in the competition, they created the Central Asian Football Association.

In the first match in the competition on the 16th of June, Iran drew Nigeria 0-0 and it was their first clean sheet at this FIFA World Cup. The next game Iran lost to Argentina by 1-0 thanks to a last-minute goal scored by Lionel Messi and received praise for holding Argentina to 90 minutes and making some offensive opportunities that they created their own. Iran were eliminated after their next match, a 3-1 loss against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Iran's sole goalscoring goal came from Reza Ghoochannejhad. Following the match, Queiroz declared he would quit as the director for Iran but later switched to another manager and extended his contract to the 2018. FIFA World Cup.

Iran was selected to play in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup as group winners, where Team Melli was the top seeded team. [4545 Iran was up against Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE in Group C. Queiroz announced his squad on the 30th of December, 2014.

The second most amount of fans at the tournament following hosts Australia and Australia, the Iranians beat Bahrain by 2-0 despite having a limited amount of preparations. The defensive-minded Iran also defeated Qatar with a 1-0 victory due to the Sardar Azmoun goal , before overcoming UAE with the same score to finish at an upper level in their group.

In the quarterfinals Iran were up against Iraq which they had defeated just a few weeks earlier in a friendly game. After receiving an unpopular red card during the opening half of play, Iran competed with ten players, and managed to score goals in the last minute of extra time, resulting in a draw of 3-3. In the penalty shootout that followed, Iran lost 7-6 in sudden death.

Iran started its 2019 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with friendly games with Chile as well as Sweden in March of 2015. Queiroz quit his post as manager due to disagreements with Iranian Football Federation. On the 14th of April, 2015. Iran was drawn alongside Oman, India, Turkmenistan and Guam in the second round of qualifying. On April 26, Queiroz announced that he will continue to be the director of Iran for the 2019 World Cup campaign.

Iran is the only team in the world to qualify for 2018 World Cup after a 2:0 win at home against Uzbekistan on June 12, 2017. They also secured 1st place in their qualifying group following the loss of South Korea to Qatar.

Iran won the first game against Morocco following Aziz Bouhaddouz scoring an own goal. In the second game, Iran lost to Spain by scoring a goal from Diego Costa. The third game against Portugal was an even draw following the penalty goal scored by Karim Ansarifard. Moreover, since Morocco was unable to pull off an 2-2 draw against Spain, Iran was eliminated. But, this is Iran's most impressive performance at this World Cup to date, which saw them score four points.