Iran national football team made its first appearance in the 1978 FIFA World cup hosted by Argentina. Making a total of five appearances in World Cup, with the recent one being in 2018, Iran football team the highest ranking team in Asia. As of 18 January 2018, Iran is in the 34th position of FIFA ranking.
Caption: Iran's squad in the 1978 FIFA World Cup
Picture credit: parstimes.com
During the 1980s, Iran didn’t participate in World Cup competitions due to the Iran-Iraq war. After 20 years, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup hosted by France. Iran became victorious for the first time in the second game beating the United States with a score of 2-1. The Iranian football team made its third appearance on the world football stage in 2006 FIFA world cup hosted by Germany. In November 2006, Iran was suspended by FIFA and the ban lasted for a month. Iranian team was seen again in the 2014 FIFA world cup in Brazil. Coached by the current head coach Carlos Queiroz, the current Iran national football team has 26 players.
Caption: Coach Queiroz with Captain Ashkan Dejagah and Karim Ansarifard
Picture credit: Wikimedia.org
The details of players where called up for the match against Panama and Venezuela area as follows:
Jersey number |
Position |
Player |
Date of birth |
Goals |
1 |
Goalkeeper |
Alireza Beiranvand |
21 September 1992 |
0 |
12 |
Goalkeeper |
Mohammad Rashid mazaheri |
18 May 1989 |
0 |
22 |
Goalkeeper |
Amir Abedzadeh |
26 April 1993 |
0 |
2 |
Defender |
Vouria Ghafouri |
20 September 1987 |
0 |
4 |
Defender |
Jalal Hosseini |
3 February 1982 |
8 |
5 |
Defender |
Milad Mohammadi |
29 September 1993 |
0 |
8 |
Defender |
Morteza Pouraliganji |
19 april 1992 |
2 |
13 |
Defender |
Rouzbeh Chesmi |
24 July 1993 |
0 |
23 |
Defender |
Ramin Rezaeian |
21 March 1990 |
2 |
24 |
Defender |
Saeid Aghaei |
9 February 1995 |
0 |
3 |
Midfielder |
Ehsan Hajsafi |
25 February 1990 |
6 |
6 |
Midfielder |
Saeid Ezatolahi |
1 October 1996 |
1 |
7 |
Midfielder |
Saman Ghoddos |
6 September 1993 |
1 |
9 |
Midfielder |
Omid Ebrahimi |
16 September 1987 |
0 |
11 |
Midfielder |
Vahid Amiri |
2 April 1988 |
1 |
14 |
Midfielder |
Ali Karimi |
11 February 1994 |
0 |
15 |
Midfielder |
Akbar Imani |
21 March 1992 |
0 |
18 |
Midfielder |
Alireza Jahanbakhsh |
11 August 1993 |
4 |
21 |
Midfielder |
Ashkan Dejagah (captain) |
5 June 1986 |
8 |
25 |
Midfielder |
Ahmad Abdollahzadeh |
6 May 1993 |
0 |
26 |
Midfielder |
Mehdi Torabi |
10 September 1994 |
4 |
10 |
Forward |
Karim Ansarifard |
3 April 1990 |
16 |
16 |
Forward |
Reza Ghoochannejhad |
20 September 1987 |
17 |
17 |
Forward |
Mehdi Taremi |
18 July 1992 |
10 |
19 |
Forward |
Kaveh Rezaei |
5 April 1992 |
0 |
20 |
Forward |
Sardar Azmoun |
1 January 1995 |
22 |
Besides the current squad, more than 20 players have been called in the last 12 months for the team.
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