Iran national under-23 football team

Iran under-23
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Team Melli Omid (The Hope National Team)
Association	FFIRI
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Captain	Hossein Hosseini
Home stadium	Azadi Stadium
FIFA code	IRN
File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg First colours	File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Second colours
First international
	File:State Flag of Iran (1964).svg Iran 2–1 Kuwait File:Flag of Kuwait.svg; (Kuwait City, Kuwait; 3 December 1977)
Biggest win
	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran 10–0 Afghanistan File:Flag of Afghanistan (2002–2004).svg; (Busan, South Korea; 28 September 2002)
Biggest defeat
	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran 2–6 Japan Japan; (Tehran, Iran; 9 February 2001)
AFC U-23 Championship
Appearances	4 (first in 2013)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2016)
Asian Games
Appearances	6 (first in 2002)
Best result	File:Gold medal asia.svg Gold Medal (2002)
Medal record
Asian Games
WAFF U-23 Championship
West Asian Games

Iran national under-23 football team, also known as Iran U-23 or Iran Olympic Team; represents Iran in international football competitions in Olympic Games, Asian Games and AFC U-22 Asian Cup, as well as any other under-23 international football tournaments. It is controlled by the Iran Football Federation.

History

The winner of the gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games, the team was prepared to defend its championship title at the football tournament of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Despite a suspension by FIFA, preventing Iran to enter any international football competition,^[2] the Iran under-23 team was given special permission to participate in the Asian Games,^[3] where they won the bronze medal.

Wild cards

Football at the Asian Games has required that under-23 players enter the competitions, but they have allowed three over-age players can be included in the squad. Iran used three players, known as the "Wild cards", in three versions of the games in 2002, 2006, 2010 And 2022:

Competition	Wild card 1	Wild card 2	Wild card 3
2002 Asian Games	Ali Daei (C)	Yahya Golmohammadi	Ebrahim Mirzapour (GK)
2006 Asian Games	Hassan Roudbarian (C/GK)	Arash Borhani	Jalal Hosseini
2010 Asian Games	Mehdi Rahmati (C/GK)	Gholamreza Rezaei	Jalal Hosseini
2022 Asian Games	Hossein Hosseini (C/GK)	Amir Arsalan Motahari

Results and fixtures

Legend

Win Draw Loss Fixture

2021

25 October 2021 (2021-10-25) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	4–0	File:Flag of Nepal.svg Nepal	Dushanbe, Tajikistan
16:00 UTC+5	Limouchi File:Soccerball shade.svg 46' Nokhodkar File:Soccerball shade.svg 77', 79' Salmani File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Pamir Stadium Attendance: 250 Referee: Suhaizi Shukri

28 October 2021 (2021-10-28) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Lebanon File:Flag of Lebanon.svg	0–2	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Dushanbe, Tajikistan
16:00 UTC+5	Limouchi File:Soccerball shade.svg 5' Kor File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Pamir Stadium Attendance: 450 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

2022

1 June 2022 (2022-06-01) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	1–1	File:Flag of Qatar.svg Qatar	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
18:00 UTC+5	Shahriari File:Soccerball shade.svg 90'	Report	Al-Ganehi File:Soccerball shade.svg 87'	Stadium: Pakhtakor Stadium Referee: Yusuke Araki (Japan)

7 June 2022 (2022-06-07) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup	Uzbekistan File:Flag of Uzbekistan.svg	1–1	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Qarshi, Uzbekistan
22:00 UTC+5	Jurakuziyev File:Soccerball shade.svg 22'	Report	Yousefi File:Soccerball shade.svg 62'	Stadium: Markaziy Stadium Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

2023

16 June 2023 (2023-06-16) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship	Palestine File:Flag of Palestine.svg	1–1	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Karbala, Iraq
19:45 UTC+3	Qunbor File:Soccerball shade.svg 62'		Barzegar File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+7'	Stadium: Karbala Stadium

6 September 2023 (2023-09-06) 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	3–0	File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
17:00 UTC+5	Hazbavi File:Soccerball shade.svg 2' Ghorbani File:Soccerball shade.svg 45' Sayyadmanesh File:Soccerball shade.svg 88'			Stadium: Lokomotiv Stadium (Tashkent)

12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Uzbekistan File:Flag of Uzbekistan.svg	1–0	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
19:00 UTC+5	Feyzullaev File:Soccerball shade.svg 47'			Stadium: JAR Stadium (Tashkent)

19 September 2023 (2023-09-19) 2022 Asian Games	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	0–0	File:Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Saudi Arabia	Hangzhou, China
19:30 UTC+8				Stadium: Linping Sports Centre Stadium (Hangzhou)

21 September 2023 (2023-09-21) 2022 Asian Games	Vietnam File:Flag of Vietnam.svg	0–4	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Hangzhou, China
19:30 UTC+8			Motahari File:Soccerball shade.svg 4' Touranian File:Soccerball shade.svg 46' Mamizadeh File:Soccerball shade.svg 51' Barzegar File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+1'	Stadium: Linping Sports Centre Stadium (Hangzhou) Referee: Mohammed Ahmed Al-Shammari (Qatar)

27 September 2023 (2023-09-27) 2022 Asian Games	Thailand File:Flag of Thailand.svg	0–2	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Hangzhou, China
19:30 UTC+8			Motahari File:Soccerball shade.svg 15' Salmani File:Soccerball shade.svg 82' (pen.)	Stadium: Shencheng Attendance: 9,410 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia)

1 October 2023 (2023-10-01) 2022 Asian Games	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	0–1	File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong	Hangzhou, China
19:30 UTC+8			Poon Pui Hin File:Soccerball shade.svg 47'	Stadium: Shencheng Attendance: 10,198 Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 05 September 2023

Position	Name
Head coach	Portugal Eurico Pinhal
Assistant coaches	Iran Javad Manafi Iran Mohammad Hassan Rajabzadeh Iran Meisam Rezapour Brazil Milton Mendes
Goalkeeping coach	Iran Mohammad Amin Sanayaei
Fitness coach	Iran Salar Amini
analyzer	Iran Majid Karimi
Team Supervisor	Iran Mehran Farghani
Physiotherapist
Team doctor
Team manager	Iran Habib Kashani

Manager history

Iran Hassan Habibi (1991–1994)
Bosnia and Herzegovina Enver Hadžiabdić (1994)
Germany Hans-Jürgen Gede (1994–1995)
Iran Hassan Habibi (1995)
Iran Ebrahim Ghasempour (1997–1999)
Germany Egon Coordes (1999)
Iran Mehdi Monajati (1999–2002)
Croatia Branko Ivanković (2002–2003)
Iran Mohammad Mayeli Kohan (2003–2004)
Brazil Renê Simões (2005–2006)
Croatia Vinko Begović (2006–2007)
Croatia Nenad Nikolić (2007–2008)
Iran Gholam Hossein Peyrovani (2009–2010)
Iran Human Afazeli (2010–2011)
Iran Ali Reza Mansourian (2011–2014)
Iran Human Afazeli (2014)
Portugal Nelo Vingada (2014)
Iran Mohammad Khakpour (2014–2016)
Iran Amir Hossein Peiravani (2017)
Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar (2018–2019)
Iran Farhad Majidi (2019)
Iran Hamid Estili (2019–2021)
Iran Mehdi Mahdavikia (2021–2022)
Iran Reza Enayati (2023)
Portugal Eurico Pinhal (2023–)

Players

Current squad

2022 Asian Games squad

The following 22 players were called up for the 2022 Asian Games.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Hossein Hosseini*	(1992-06-30) 30 June 1992 (age 32)	Iran Esteghlal
	1GK	Alireza Rezaei	(1999-12-11) 11 December 1999 (age 25)	Iran Nassaji
	1GK	Sina Saeidifar	(2001-04-12) 12 April 2001 (age 23)	Iran Esteghlal

2	2DF	Saman Touranian	(2001-12-12) 12 December 2001 (age 23)	Iran Esteghlal
3	2DF	Hossein Goudarzi	(2001-05-04) 4 May 2001 (age 23)	Iran Shams Azar
4	2DF	Saman Fallah	(2001-05-12) 12 May 2001 (age 23)	Iran Gol Gohar
14	2DF	Amir Jafari	(2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 23)	Iran Gol Gohar
	2DF	Sina Shahabbasi	(2001-04-14) 14 April 2001 (age 23)	Iran Foolad
	2DF	Majid Nasiri	(2000-05-14) 14 May 2000 (age 24)	Iran Mes
	2DF	Mohammad Reza Bordbar	(2004-08-26) 26 August 2004 (age 20)	Iran Malavan

	3MF	Mohammad Hossein Eslami	(2001-04-13) 13 April 2001 (age 23)	Iran Zob Ahan
	3MF	Omid Hamedifar	(2000-08-19) 19 August 2000 (age 24)	Iran Esteghlal
	3MF	Mohammad Khodabandelou	(1999-09-07) 7 September 1999 (age 25)	Iran Persepolis
	3MF	Mohammad Omri	(2000-03-11) 11 March 2000 (age 24)	Iran Malavan
	3MF	Yasin Salmani	(2002-02-27) 27 February 2002 (age 22)	Iran Persepolis
	3MF	Gholamreza Sabet Imani	(2000-04-06) 6 April 2000 (age 24)	Iran Paykan
	3MF	Fardin Yousefi	(2000-10-13) 13 October 2000 (age 24)	Iran Zob Ahan
	3MF	Mehdi Mamizadeh	(2000-04-15) 15 April 2000 (age 24)	Iran Gol Gohar
	3MF	Mohammad Reza Ghobeishavi	(2000-01-24) 24 January 2000 (age 24)	Iran Foolad

	4FW	Amir Arsalan Motahari*	(1993-03-10) 10 March 1993 (age 31)	Iran Tractor
11	4FW	Aria Barzegar	(2002-10-10) 10 October 2002 (age 22)	Iran Nassaji

* Over-aged player

2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification squad

The following 24 players were called up for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi	(2001-04-30)30 April 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Esteghlal
12	1GK	Sina Saeidifar	(2001-04-12)12 April 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Shams Azar
22	1GK	Payam Parsa	(2002-07-22)22 July 2002 (aged 20)	Iran Sanat Naft

2	2DF	Saman Touranian	(2001-12-12)12 December 2001 (aged 21)	Iran Esteghlal
3	2DF	Hossein Goudarzi	(2001-05-04)4 May 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Shams Azar
4	2DF	Daniel Airy	(2003-10-26)26 October 2003 (aged 19)	Iran Zob Ahan
5	2DF	Amin Hazbavi	(2003-05-06)6 May 2003 (aged 20)	Qatar Al Sadd
13	2DF	Aria Yousefi	(2002-04-22)22 April 2002 (aged 21)	Iran Sepahan
14	2DF	Amir Jafari	(2002-01-18)18 January 2002 (aged 21)	Iran Gol Gohar
17	2DF	Mohammad Mehdi Ahmadi	(2001-01-10)10 January 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Persepolis
21	2DF	Sina Ghasemi	(2004-03-17)17 March 2004 (aged 19)	Iran KIA
23	2DF	Mohammadreza Bordbar	(2004-08-26)26 August 2004 (aged 18)	Iran Malavan
	2DF	Saman Fallah	(2001-05-12)12 May 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Gol Gohar

6	3MF	Alireza Bavieh	(2002-08-21)21 August 2002 (aged 20)	Iran Foolad
8	3MF	Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad	(2003-10-26)26 October 2003 (aged 19)	Iran Sepahan
10	3MF	Yasin Salmani (captain)	(2001-12-20)20 December 2001 (aged 21)	Iran Persepolis
11	3MF	Aria Barzegar	(2002-11-10)10 November 2002 (aged 20)	Iran Nassaji
16	3MF	Mohammad Ghorbani	(2001-05-21)21 May 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Sepahan
18	3MF	Ali Asghar Sadeghi	(2001-02-01)1 February 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Mes Rafsanjan
19	3MF	Ali Pourdara	(2001-11-21)21 November 2001 (aged 21)	Kuwait Kuwait

7	4FW	Mohammadhossein Eslami	(2001-04-13)13 April 2001 (aged 22)	Iran Zob Ahan
9	4FW	Allahyar Sayyadmanesh	(2001-06-20)20 June 2001 (aged 21)	England Hull City
15	4FW	Mohammad Taha Tabatabaei	(2002-05-02)2 May 2002 (aged 21)	Iran Saipa
20	4FW	Mehdi Hashemnejad	(2001-10-27)27 October 2001 (aged 21)	Iran Tractor

Previous squads

AFC U-23 Asian Cup


Asian Games

Honours

Continental

Asian Games^†

1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold Medal (1): 2002

3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Medal (1): 2006

4th place (1): 2010

^†U-23 teams were favoured by AFC and the IOC since 2002 Asian Games.The Senior team competed in the games before 2002.

Regional

WAFF U-23 Championship

1st place, gold medalist(s) Winners (1): 2015

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (1): 2023

West Asian Games

1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions (1): 1997.

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (1): 2002.

3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place (1): 2005.

Other

Semi-finalists in Vietnam 1999 Dunhill Cup
1st place in Vietnam 2006 VTV-T&T Cup (Spring Cup)
3rd place in Turkmenistan 2008 Turkmenistan President's Cup
1st place in Iran 2010 Velayat Cup
2nd place in Vietnam 2010 Ho Chi Minh City Cup
1st place in Qatar 2013 International Friendship Youth Tournament
1st place in Turkey Antalya Tournament

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games Record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1908–1988	See Iran national team								See Iran national team
Spain 1992	Did not qualify								8	5	2	1	19	6
United States 1996									4	2	1	1	9	4
Australia 2000									4	1	1	2	3	6
Greece 2004									6	3	0	3	22	9
China 2008									6	1	2	3	6	7
United Kingdom 2012									4	1	1	2	1	5
Brazil 2016									8	5	0	3	21	9
Japan 2020									6	3	2	1	9	4
France 2024									3	2	0	1	7	1
United States 2028	To be determined								To be determined
Australia 2032	To be determined								To be determined
Total	—	0/7	–	–	–	–	–	–	46	21	9	16	90	50

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Squad	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
Oman 2014	Group Stage	3	1	1	1	6	5	Squad	5	4	1	0	13	2
Qatar 2016	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	6	7	Squad	4	3	0	1	15	2
China 2018	Did not qualify								2	1	0	1	2	3
Thailand 2020	Group stage	3	1	1	1	3	3	Squad	3	2	1	0	6	1
Uzbekistan 2022	Group stage	3	0	2	1	3	4	Squad	3	3	0	0	9	2
Qatar 2024	Did not qualify								3	2	0	1	7	1
Saudi Arabia 2026	To be determined
Total	4/5	13	4	4	5	18	19	—	20	15	2	3	52	11

*Denotes draws which include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year	Round	PLD	W	D	L	GS	GA	Squad
1951 to 1998	See Iran national team
South Korea 2002	Champions	6	4	2	0	16	2	Squad
Qatar 2006	Third Place	6	4	1	1	10	6	Squad
China 2010	Fourth Place	7	5	0	2	14	8	Squad
South Korea 2014	Group Stage	2	0	1	1	2	5	Squad
Indonesia 2018	Round of 16	4	1	1	2	3	4	Squad
China 2022	Quarter-finals	5	3	1	1	9	1	Squad
Japan 2026	To be determined
Qatar 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total	5/5	30	17	6	7	54	26	—

WAFF U-23 Championship

WAFF U-23 Championship record
Year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
Qatar 2015	Champions	4	3	1	0	8	3
Saudi Arabia 2021	Not a WAFF member
Saudi Arabia 2022	Not a WAFF member
Iraq 2023	Runners-up^{[lower-alpha 1]}	4	1	3	0	5	3
Total	2/4	8	4	4	0	13	6

↑ Not a WAFF member, participated as invitee.

West Asian Games

West Asian Games record
Year	Round	PLD	W	D	L	GS	GA
Iran 1997	Champions	4	3	1	0	8	4
Kuwait 2002	Runners-up	4	1	3	0	5	4
Qatar 2005	Third place	4	3	1	0	10	2
Total	3/3	12	7	5	0	23	10

Islamic Solidarity Games

Islamic Solidarity Games record
Year	Round	PLD	W	D	L	GS	GA
Saudi Arabia 2005	See Iran B national team
Iran 2010	Cancelled
Indonesia 2013	Did not enter
Azerbaijan 2017	Did not enter
Turkey 2021	Group Stage^{[lower-alpha 1]}	3	0	0	3	0	9
Saudi Arabia 2025	To be determined
Total	1/4	3	0	0	3	0	9

↑ Iran withdrew before the start of the tournament. However, all results were announced as 3–0 in favor of Iran's opponents.

References

↑ "اولین تیم امید تاریخ (عکس) :: ورزش سه" (in فارسی). Varzesh3. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
↑ "FIFA suspends Iran Football Federation". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
↑ "FIFA President announces temporary lifting of Iran ban". the-AFC.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.

External links

[4] Not a WAFF member, participated as invitee.

[5] Iran withdrew before the start of the tournament. However, all results were announced as 3–0 in favor of Iran's opponents.

[1] "اولین تیم امید تاریخ (عکس) :: ورزش سه" (in فارسی). Varzesh3. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

[2] "FIFA suspends Iran Football Federation". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.

[3] "FIFA President announces temporary lifting of Iran ban". the-AFC.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 1]

31 October 2021 (2021-10-31) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	3–2	File:Flag of Tajikistan.svg Tajikistan	Dushanbe, Tajikistan
16:00 UTC+5	Salmani File:Soccerball shade.svg 13', 19', 45'	Report	Zoirov File:Soccerball shade.svg 10' Panjshanbe File:Soccerball shade.svg 22' (pen.)	Stadium: Pamir Stadium Attendance: 7,200 Referee: Kim Woo-sung

4 June 2022 (2022-06-04) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup	Turkmenistan File:Flag of Turkmenistan.svg	2–1	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
18:00 UTC+5	Sapargulýyew File:Soccerball shade.svg 28' (pen.) Çaryýew File:Soccerball shade.svg 80'	Report	Bavieh File:Soccerball shade.svg 8'	Stadium: Milliy Stadium Attendance: 539 Referee: Alex King (Australia)

14 June 2023 (2023-06-14) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	3–1	File:Flag of Syria.svg Syria	Karbala, Iraq
19:45 UTC+3	Salmani File:Soccerball shade.svg 9' File:Soccerball shade.svg 45+4' Shariatzadeh File:Soccerball shade.svg 15'		Al-Aswad File:Soccerball shade.svg 15'	Stadium: Karbala Stadium

18 June 2023 (2023-06-18) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship Semi-finals	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	0–0 (4–3 pen.)	File:Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan	Baghdad, Iraq
18:00 UTC+3				Stadium: Al-Madina Stadium
	Penalties
	Y. Salmani soccer ball with check mark Hazbavi soccer ball with red X A. Bavieh soccer ball with check mark M. Ghorbani soccer ball with check mark Hashemnejad soccer ball with check mark		soccer ball with check mark Al-Diabat soccer ball with red X Abualnadi soccer ball with red X Al-Haj soccer ball with check markAl-Shanaineh soccer ball with check mark Abu Taha

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship Finals	Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	1–1 (4–5 pen.)	File:Flag of Iraq.svg Iraq	Baghdad, Iraq
20:00 UTC+3	Goudarzi File:Soccerball shade.svg 31'		Abdullah File:Soccerball shade.svg 45+3'	Stadium: Al-Madina Stadium
	Penalties
	Y. Salmani soccer ball with check mark Fallah soccer ball with red X Irankhah soccer ball with check mark M. Ghorbani soccer ball with check mark Hashemnejad soccer ball with check mark		soccer ball with check mark K. Mohammed soccer ball with check mark Tahseen soccer ball with check mark Abdullah soccer ball with check mark M. Mohammed soccer ball with check mark Maknzi