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Early years


The very first match that the Team Melli played was on January 1, 1941 away at Afghanistan.



Iran has won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976), a championship record to which the team has not been able to add since, although they have finished third four times.



[edit] 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina

In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran to qualify. Iran lost two of their three group stage games against the Netherlands and Peru.[3] However, they managed to create a surprise[4] by drawing 1-1 against Scotland with a late Iraj Danaeifard goal.[5]



[edit] After Revolution

After the 1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside. 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 suffered the inevitable effects of conflict. The national team withdrew from the Asian qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup, and refused to participate in the qualifiers for the 1986 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 either the 1990 or the 1994 World Cups, it was during this period that a number of quality players burst onto the Iranian football scene, laying the foundation for their second stab at World Cup glory in 1998.[6] Iran could count on new talents such as Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri.



[edit] 1998 FIFA World Cup in France





Abedzadeh

Mohammadkhani

Pashazadeh

Khakpour

Zarincheh

Minavand

Estili

Bagheri

Mahdavikia

Azizi

Daei



Iran lineup during the 1998 World Cup



Additional information: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (play-off AFC-OFC)

Additional information: 1998 FIFA World Cup - Group F

In November 1997, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after eliminating Australia in a close playoff series. Both games finished undecided, but Iran managed to qualify due to the away goals rule. Iran held Australia to a 1-1 draw at home, and a 2-2 draw in Melbourne; however, since Iran had scored more away goals, they were able to qualify for the Cup.[7]



At their first game of the Group F at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Iran played well against Yugoslavia, losing narrowly 1-0, only to a free kick goal by Mihajlović.[6]



Iran recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game[5], beating the United States 2-1, with Estili and Mahdavikia scoring goals for Iran. The Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement because of each country's political stance after the Iranian revolution. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or politics in sports, both sides presented one another with gifts and flowers and took ceremonial pictures before the match kickoff.[8] Following defeat with Iran the United States were eliminated from the World Cup.[9]



Iran played against Germany in the third game. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Bierhoff and Klinsmann.[10] The one win and two losses meant Iran became third in the final group standing and failed to make it to the next round.[11]



[edit] 2002 FIFA World Cup

Additional information: 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Iran failed to qualify for World Cup 2002 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.



[edit] 2006 FIFA-World Cup in Germany



Iran score against Angola during a 2006 FIFA World Cup match.Main article: Iran at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding

On June 8, 2005, Iran together with Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, making it Iran's 3rd appearance on the world stage of football. The qualification round both in 2001 and 2004-05 resulted in mass celebrations, hysteria and rioting, causing internal chaos and unrest between youth and government officials. The Iran versus Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers in Tehran was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations.



Iran started their 2006 FIFA World Cup appearance with high expectations from fans and media. Their first match was against Mexico in Group D. The game was level 1-1 at the half-time, but Iran lost at the end because of a defensive mistake. The final score, 3-1, was brought about by goals from Omar Bravo and Zinha for Mexico, with Yahya Golmohammadi scoring the only Iran goal.



Iran played against Portugal in the second game. The game was lost 2-0. The goals were scored by Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo (penalty). The two losses meant Iran was eliminated from the competition, before their third and final game against Angola. Iran drew 1-1 with Angola on the 21st of June 2006, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh scoring the Iran goal.



[edit] 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.[12] The ban lasted less than a month,[13] and as a dispensation was given to allow the Iran under-23 team to participate in the football competition of the 2006 Asian Games,[14] fixtures were unaffected.



[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Additional information: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Third Round

Iran is in the same FIFA World Cup qualifying group as Kuwait, Syria and United Arab Emirates. They will play home and away against each of the other three teams in the group 5. Ali Daei was chosen to become the new coach after Spanish coach Javier Clemente had been close to signing on as Iran's national team manager but talks collapsed when he refused to live full time in the country.[15] Ali Daei got ejected from his position as the Iranian national coach on March 29, 2009.[16] He was replaced by Afshin Ghotbi. Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after ranking 4th overall in its group.[17