Persepolis Having joined the senior squad of
Persepolis at the age of 16, he made his debut in the match against
Saipa on 17 October 2006. He saved a very important penalty against the legendary
Ali Daei. Haghighi had been playing for Persepolis Youth teams since 2002, after being scouted by coaches of Persepolis Football School in the past years. He started the
2007–08 season with two other goalkeepers already ahead of him in the pecking order at
Persepolis (
Hassan Roudbarian,
Team Melli's number one and
Mehdi Vaezi, who was also invited to the national team, but never capped). During this season, Haghighi did not play at all but extended his contract at the end of the season. During the
2008–09 season, Haghighi was lucky to play in every game because of injuries to two other goalkeepers, making Haghighi the first keeper for every game. Statistically, he was the number-one keeper during this season. He trained under legendary Iranian keeper
Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh. In the
2007–08 season, he captained
Persepolis for the first time in the 2–1 victory against
Saipa, making him the youngest captain of
Persepolis in its history.
Rubin Kazan In December 2011,
Russian Premier League side
Rubin Kazan sent a transfer request to Persepolis. He officially left Persepolis on 9 January 2012. On 14 January 2012, Haghighi signed a 4-year deal with Rubin Kazan. He signed a contract with the Russian club on 11 January and made his debut three days later in a pre-season friendly match.
Return to Persepolis (loan) On 18 July 2013, Haghighi returned to Persepolis and signed a six-month loan contract with the club. On 23 October 2013, Haghighi played in a 5–1 win over
Padideh Shandiz in a
Hazfi Cup match, marking his first match for Persepolis after 18 months. He then played another Hazfi Cup match against
Alvand Hamedan, in which he kept a clean sheet. His loan contract ended on 3 December 2013.
Sporting Covilhã (loan) Haghighi was called back to the Rubin Kazan side during the 2014 winter
transfer period. In January 2014, Haghighi signed a loan contract with Portuguese
Segunda Liga side
Sporting Covilhã, on loan from
Rubin Kazan. With Haghighi in the net, Sporting Covilha avoided relegation. After 14 appearances with the club, Haghighi's loan contract ended and he returned to Rubin.
Penafiel (loan) On 24 August 2014, Haghighi signed a one-year loan contract with
Primeira Liga side
Penafiel. On 24 February 2015 Haghighi was named the
Primeira Liga Player of the Week for Matchday 22 after his clean sheet in a 1–0 victory against
Vitórial. After his good performances at Penafiel,
Sporting Braga became interested in Haghighi.
Return to Rubin Kazan Haghighi returned to Rubin for the 2015–16 season. He played in a pre-season friendly on 8 July 2015 against
Karlsruher SC in a match that finished 2–2. He played his first official game for Rubin on 24 September 2015 in a
Russian Cup game against
FC SKA-Energiya Khabarovsk which his team lost 0–2.
Marítimo On 22 January 2016, Haghighi signed a 30-month contract with
Marítimo in the
Primeira Liga, reuniting with his former coach,
Nelo Vingada. Haghighi received his ITC on 27 January 2016 and was cleared to play for the club. Haghighi made his league debut for Marítimo on 14 February 2016 against
S.C. Braga. Haghighi kept his first clean–sheet for the club on 28 February 2016 in a 1–0 victory against
Académica.
Marítimo and Haghighi agreed to terminate his contract on 20 August 2016.
AFC Eskilstuna On 13 March 2017, he signed a one-year contract with the
Swedish club
AFC Eskilstuna, competing in the top tier
Allsvenskan. However shortly after joining the team he suffered a major injury and was ruled out for several months. Haghighi returned to training in late June 2017. Alireza finally debuted on 8 July 2017 in a 1–0 loss to
Sirius. Haghighi was named in an Allsvenskan team of the week in August after great performances since his return from injury, and on 19 August 2017 he assisted a goal in his team's 3–1 victory against
Malmö.
GIF Sundsvall On 13 March 2018, he signed a contract with another
Swedish club
GIF Sundsvall, competing in the top tier
Allsvenskan. The duration of his contract was 3 months, until the end of the
2018 FIFA World Cup. He was released from the team on 11 May 2018. ==International career==