Early years in 1926 The
Iranian Football Federation was founded in 1920. In 1926,
Tehran XI (selected players from
Tehran Club,
Toofan, and
Armenian Sports Club) traveled across the border to
Baku, Soviet Union; this was the first away football match for an Iranian team. This Tehran Select team is the predecessor of Iran's national football team. The first match that
Team Melli played was on 23 August 1941, away at
Kabul in a 1–0 win against
British India while Iran's first
FIFA international match was on 25 August 1941, away at
Afghanistan. Iran won three
AFC Asian Cups in
1968,
1972, and
1976, the latter being their most recent Asian Cup win. In
1978, Iran made its first appearance in the
FIFA World Cup after defeating
Australia in
Tehran. They lost two of three group stage matches against the
Netherlands and
Peru, and only earned one point by drawing
Scotland, in a match that saw
Iraj Danaeifard cancel out an own goal scored by
Andranik Eskandarian for a score of 1–1. in
Córdoba, Argentina
After the Iranian Revolution After the
Iranian Revolution, football was somewhat neglected. During the
1980s, the Iranian national team did not feature in World Cup competitions due to the
Iran–Iraq War (1980–88) and domestic football embraced the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the
1982 FIFA World Cup and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the
1986 FIFA World Cup because of having to play on neutral ground. The war and political upheavals left Iran without major club competitions until 1989 when the
Qods League was established. A year later, the Qods League was renamed the
Azadegan League. Despite failing to qualify for both the
1990 and
1994 World Cups, it was said that during this period, a number of quality players burst onto the Iranian football scene laying the foundation for third place in the
1996 AFC Asian Cup (victories in that tournament included a 3–0 victory against
Saudi Arabia and a 6–2 victory against
South Korea) and their second stab at World Cup glory in
1998.
1998–2006 On 29 November 1997, Iran qualified for the
1998 FIFA World Cup after eliminating
Australia in a close playoff series. After being tied 3–3 on aggregate, Iran advanced due to the
away goals rule; Iran held Australia to a 1–1 draw at home, and a 2–2 draw in
Melbourne. At their first game at the
1998 FIFA World Cup against Yugoslavia, Iran lost 1–0 to a free kick by
Siniša Mihajlović. Iran played against
Germany in the third game, losing 2–0 courtesy of goals from
Oliver Bierhoff and
Jürgen Klinsmann, finishing third in the group with 3 points. Iran finished first in the group stage of the
2000 AFC Asian Cup but lost to
South Korea in the quarter-finals. They failed to qualify for
2002 FIFA World Cup, held in Asia for the first time, after an aggregate defeat to the
Republic of Ireland, losing 2–0 in
Dublin and winning 1–0 in
Tehran. The elimination saw manager
Miroslav Blažević step down from the top spot to be replaced by his assistant
Branko Ivanković who stepped up from assistant coach. After qualifying to the
2004 AFC Asian Cup, Iran was drawn with
Thailand,
Oman and
Japan in the tournament. Iran finished second in the group. In the quarter-final clash against
South Korea, Iran won 4–3. They then lost to host
China on penalty kicks, and won against
Bahrain 4–2 to finish third place in the tournament. at the
2006 FIFA World Cup. On 8 June 2005, Iran and
Japan became the first countries other than hosts
Germany to qualify for the
2006 FIFA World Cup. The match between the two countries in Tehran, played on 24 March 2005, was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations. The match ended with five fans dead and several others injured as they left the
Azadi Stadium at the end of the match. Iran started their 2006 FIFA World Cup appearance in Germany with a match against North America's
Mexico in
Group D. Being 1–1 at half-time, defensive mistakes led to a Mexican 3–1 win, with goals from
Omar Bravo and
Sinha.
Yahya Golmohammadi scored the only Iranian goal. Team Melli played against
Portugal in the second game, losing 2–0. The goals were scored by
Deco and a penalty from
Cristiano Ronaldo. Iran were eliminated from the competition before their third and final game against
Angola, a 1–1 draw.
Temporary suspension In November 2006, Iran was suspended by
FIFA from all participation in international football on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association. The ban lasted less than a month and as a dispensation was given to allow the
Iran under-23 team to participate in the
football competition of the
2006 Asian Games, fixtures were unaffected.
2007–2014 The
IRIFF appointed
Amir Ghalenoei as manager of Iran on 17 July 2006 to succeed
Branko Ivanković. After finishing first in the
2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifying round two points ahead of
South Korea, Iran placed first in the group stage of the final tournament in Malaysia, eventually losing to their qualifying opponents in a penalty shoot-out in the quarterfinals. His contract was not renewed and Team Melli was left with a caretaker manager for several months. Then-leading international goalscorer
Ali Daei was chosen to become the new manager after Spanish coach
Javier Clemente had been closer to signing on as Iran's national team manager, when talks collapsed when he refused to live full-time in the country. Iran was placed with
Kuwait,
Syria and
United Arab Emirates in the third round of
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Ali Daei resigned from his position as the Iranian national coach on 29 March 2009, replaced by
Afshin Ghotbi. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after finishing fourth overall in its group. During the final game of the
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against
South Korea in
Seoul on 17 June 2009, seven members of the team wore green wristbands in support of the
Iranian Green Movement during the
2009 Iranian election protests. Initial rumors and false reports were that all seven players were banned for life by the
Iranian Football Federation, however, state-run media claimed that all seven had "retired". On 24 June 2009, FIFA wrote to Iran's Football Federation asking for clarification on the situation. The Iranian Football Federation replied that no disciplinary action has been taken against any player.
Afshin Ghotbi renewed his contract until the end of
2011 AFC Asian Cup and the team qualified for the tournament with 13 points as group winners. During the final
qualification match against
South Korea, several Iranian players started the match wearing green
armbands or
wristbands, a symbol of
protest at the outcome of the Iranian presidential election. Most removed them at half-time. The newspaper
Iran reported that
Ali Karimi,
Mehdi Mahdavikia,
Hosein Kaebi and
Vahid Hashemian had received life bans from the
Iranian FA for the gesture. However, the Iranian FA denied this claim in a response to FIFA's inquiry saying that "the comments in foreign media are nothing but lies and a mischievous act." Head coach
Afshin Ghotbi also confirmed that it was a rumour and the Iranian FA "has not taken any official stand on this issue."
Afshin Ghotbi qualified Iran for the 2011 Asian Cup and finished second in the
2010 WAFF Championship just a few months before the Asian Cup. Iran were able to gain all nine possible points in the group stage of the Asian Cup but after an extra time goal from South Korea, Iran were yet again eliminated from the quarter-finals. On 4 April 2011, former
Real Madrid manager
Carlos Queiroz agreed to a two-and-a-half-year deal to coach the Iranian national team until the end of the
2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Under Queiroz, Iran began their
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign successfully, defeating the
Maldives 4–0 in the first leg of their
second round of qualifiers. After winning 5–0 on aggregate, Iran advanced to the
third round of qualifiers where they were drawn with
Indonesia,
Qatar and
Bahrain. . Standing left to right:
Aghili,
Hosseini,
Haddadifar,
Ansarifard,
Zare,
Pooladi; sitting left to right:
Heydari,
Norouzi,
Rahmati,
Khalatbari,
Karimi. Iran topped
their group by defeating Bahrain 6–0 at home in the
Azadi Stadium as well as inviting former
German youth international Ashkan Dejagah who scored twice on his debut against Qatar. After a 4–1 win at Indonesia, Iran qualified for the final round of direct qualifiers, the
fourth round. In the fourth round, Iran played South Korea,
Qatar,
Uzbekistan and
Lebanon in
their group. Queiroz made new
foreign-based additions to his squad, adding players such as
Reza Ghoochannejhad. Iran started the fourth round of Asian qualifiers with a 1–0 win in Uzbekistan.
Team Melli then drew Qatar and lost in Lebanon before defeating South Korea at the Azadi on 16 October with a goal from captain
Javad Nekounam. After a 1–0 loss in Tehran against Uzbekistan, Iran defeated Qatar 1–0 in
Doha and Lebanon 4–0 at home. In their last qualification match, Iran defeated South Korea 1–0 in
Ulsan Munsu with a goal from Ghoochannejhad, clinching their ticket to Brazil as group winners with 16 points. Thus, Iran became the third team that Queiroz has managed to qualify for the World Cup, having reached the
2002 edition with
South Africa and the
2010 edition with
Portugal, leading the latter to a knockout stage finish. Iran continued their winning streak, securing
qualification to the
2015 Asian Cup months later as well. at the
2014 World Cup in Brazil Since Queiroz's role as manager of the Iranian national team, he has introduced players from the
Iranian diaspora to the national squad. These players include
German-Iranians Daniel Davari and
Ashkan Dejagah,
Dutch-Iranian Reza Ghoochannejhad,
Swedish-Iranians Omid Nazari and
Saman Ghoddos, and
Iranian-American Steven Beitashour among others. Iran competed in
Group F alongside
Argentina,
Nigeria and
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to the tournament, they founded the
Central Asian Football Association. In the opening match of the tournament on 16 June, Iran drew
Nigeria 0–0 making it their first clean sheet in the World Cup. In their next match, Iran was
defeated by
Argentina 1–0 with a late goal from
Lionel Messi and received praise after holding Argentina for 90 minutes while creating some attacking opportunities of their own. Iran was eliminated from the tournament in their next game, a 3–1 defeat to
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Iran's lone goal was scored by
Reza Ghoochannejhad. After the tournament, Queiroz declared he would resign as manager of Iran but later switched and extended his contract until the
2018 FIFA World Cup.
Late 2010s Iran qualified for the
2015 AFC Asian Cup as
group winners where Team Melli were the highest
ranked seed. Iran faced
Bahrain,
Qatar and the
UAE in
Group C. With the second highest number of fans in the tournament after hosts
Australia, the Iranians defeated Bahrain 2–0 with limited preparations. A defensive-minded Iran then defeated Qatar 1–0 thanks to a
Sardar Azmoun goal before defeating UAE by the same scoreline to reach the top of their group. In the
quarter-finals Iran faced
Iraq who they had beaten weeks prior in a
friendly match. Having received a controversial
red card in the first half, Iran competed with ten men, managing to score goals late in
extra time to draw the match 3–3. In the ensuing
penalty shootout, Iran lost 7–6. in
Mordovia Arena at the
2018 FIFA World Cup Iran began their
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with
friendly matches against
Chile and
Sweden in March 2015. Queiroz resigned from his managerial post thereafter due to disagreements with the
Iranian Football Federation. On 14 April 2015, Iran were drawn with
Oman,
India,
Turkmenistan and
Guam in the
second round of qualifiers. On 26 April, Queiroz announced that he would continue as the manager of Iran for their 2018 World Cup campaign. Iran became the second team to qualify for the
2018 World Cup after a 2–0 win at home over
Uzbekistan on 12 June 2017. They also clinched first place in their qualification
group after South Korea's defeat to
Qatar. Iran won the first match against
Morocco after
Aziz Bouhaddouz scoring an own goal. They then lost against
Spain with a goal scored by
Diego Costa, with
video assistant referees denying an Iranian equalizer. The third match against
Portugal ended in a draw after a
penalty scored by
Karim Ansarifard in the stoppage time, while
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty when Iran was trailing, with
Alireza Beiranvand making a decisive save and because Morocco could only manage a 2–2 draw to Spain, Iran were eliminated. Iran's four points is the most received in any World Cup appearance. at the
2019 AFC Asian Cup and
Taremi played a key role in the front line of the team in these years. Having qualified for the
2019 AFC Asian Cup earlier, Iran was drawn into
group D, where they shared fate with
Iraq,
Vietnam and
Yemen. Iran opened their tournament against Yemen, nearly conceding a goal early but after 10 minutes, Iran regained the ground and proved more dominant in certain aspects, thrashing Yemen 5–0. A 2–0 win over the Vietnamese side gave Iran direct qualification to the knockout stage. Iran ended their group stage with a goalless draw over neighbor Iraq and took first place. After the group stage, Iran encountered
Oman, with a defending mistake almost costing Iran's chances but
Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri's penalty was saved by
Alireza Beiranvand. Iran then defeated Oman 2–0 to reach the last eight. In the quarter-finals against a defensive
China, Iran outclassed the Chinese 3–0 to meet
Japan in the semi-finals. Iran missed the opportunity to reach the final once again when they fell 3–0 with all three goals scored in second half.
Early 2020s at the
2022 FIFA World Cup Iran was the highest-ranked team to be seeded in the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, being drawn into the
second round where they would deal with two Arab countries, Iraq and
Bahrain, along with
Cambodia and
Hong Kong. Iran, under new Belgian manager
Marc Wilmots, began with a 2–0 away win over Hong Kong. After the
death of Sahar Khodayari, the 14–0 win over Cambodia allowed select Iranian women to enter the stadium for the first time since the
1979 Islamic Revolution. Their next away encounters against Bahrain and Iraq went on to be consecutive defeats which Iran lost 0–1 and 1–2, respectively. Following two consecutive draws between Iraq and Bahrain, Iran was left with the possibility of being eliminated from the World Cup outright in the second round, leading to the sacking of Marc Wilmots. The
COVID-19 pandemic in Iran forced the remaining fixtures to be played without spectators in June 2021, forcing Iran to play their remaining games in Bahrain under new coach
Dragan Skočić; but with Bahrain losing its home support as an advantage, and Iraq assured a place in the
final phase, Iran was able to stage a comeback, occupying first place and, together with Iraq, progressed to the final phase. Iran became the thirteenth team to qualify for the
2022 FIFA World Cup after a 1–0 win at home over Iraq on 27 January 2022. In March 2022, Iranian women were again banned from entering the stadium for a World Cup qualifier. Iran's World Cup preparation friendly match against
Canada at
BC Place in June 2022 was cancelled by the
Canadian Soccer Association amid opposition and mounting criticism, namely in regards to the Iranian government's role in shooting down
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. By the start of the World Cup in Qatar, Iran was the highest ranked team from Asia. In October 2022, calls were made to ban the Iranian national team from the World Cup for the Iranian government's
blocking of Iranian women from their stadiums, their supplying of weapons to Russia during the
invasion of Ukraine, and the treatment towards protesters during the
Mahsa Amini protests. However, Iran started its World Cup campaign with a nightmare, losing 2–6 to
England in the opening game as Iran suffered the worst ever loss in its FIFA World Cup history. The Iranian team notably made headlines in their opening match against England after refusing to sing the
national anthem in solidarity with the
Mahsa Amini protests, with some Iranian supporters cheering against their own team or
boycotting their team amidst the ongoing protests as they felt the team was representing the government. In the following match against
Wales, amidst the boos and whistles from some of the Iranian supporters during the playing of the national anthem, the Iranian players were filmed singing the national anthem before defeating Wales 2–0 for their first-ever win over a European nation at the World Cup, with some protestors having their pre-revolutionary
Lion and Sun flags and
Women, Life, Freedom banners snatched from them by pro-government fans and stadium security at the
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. Protesters were harassed by government supporters with some protesters being detained by Qatari police, while stadium security confirmed they were given orders to confiscate anything but the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Documents obtained by
Iran International showed Iran was coordinating secret efforts with Qatar to control who attends the World Cup and restrict any signs of dissent. Ahead of Iran's final group stage match against the
United States, the Iranian players were allegedly called in to a meeting with members of the
IRGC and were threatened with violence and torture for their families if they did not sing the national anthem or joined the protests against the Iranian regime. During the match, the Iranian players sang the national anthem again before losing to the United States 1–0 for the first time in their history and thereby being knocked out of the tournament, being the only team to finish third in the group with three points instead of four. Many Iranians celebrated the defeat and one Iranian man was killed by security forces in
Bandar-e Anzali after honking his car horn in celebration. Another Iranian fan was also arrested by Qatari police after he was wearing a shirt with the
Woman, Life, Freedom slogan. During the FIFA World Cup as well as the
2023 AFC Asian Cup, the Iranian government reportedly sent paid members of the
Basij and
IRGC to cheer for the team in the stands. Iran were eventually knocked out in the semi-final of the Asian Cup by hosts
Qatar. After the game, Iranian officials reportedly arrested ten teenagers in the city of
Javanrud for celebrating the team's elimination from the tournament. They were placed in pot 2 for the
World Cup draw and were subsequently drawn into
Group G alongside
Belgium,
Egypt, and
New Zealand. Prior to the draw, a group stage match scheduled to be played in Seattle was designated as a "
Pride Match" by the City of
Seattle to coincide with the city's
annual Pride celebrations and to promote
LGBT inclusion. Following the draw, the fixture was confirmed to be
the match between Iran and Egypt. Both Iran and Egypt are countries where homosexuality is criminalized under domestic law, with
Iran in particular having imposed capital punishment in certain cases. The
Iranian Football Federation and the
Egyptian Football Association objected to the match's designation; however,
FIFA and local organizers confirmed that associated LGBT events would proceed, and that
rainbow flags would be permitted inside the stadium. In January 2026, multiple Iranian footballers and athletes were killed by the Iranian regime during the
2026 Iran massacres amid the
2025–2026 Iranian protests, including former
Tractor Sazi F.C. midfielder
Mojtaba Tarshiz, prompting former Iran national team captain
Masoud Shojaei to criticise FIFA for its silence over the killing of Iranian athletes during protests, while then-captain
Mehdi Taremi expressed solidarity with the Iranian people. Following the massacres, activists called on FIFA to ban the Iranian national team from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Ali Karimi, a former footballer for the Iran national team, along with a coalition of prominent Iranians, wrote an open letter to FIFA and all its member associations, calling on FIFA president
Gianni Infantino to speak up on the protest deaths. Following the protests and ensuing crackdown, the
Spanish Football Federation reportedly pulled out of a planned friendly match with Iran. Amid the
Iran war,
Sardar Azmoun was reportedly expelled from the national team after posting a picture of himself with the ruler of Dubai on social media. == Team image ==