Iran national under-23 football team

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.

Iran under-23

Nickname(s)	Team Melli Omid ("The Hope National Team")
Association	FFIRI
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Head coach	Hamid Estili
Captain	Omid Noorafkan
Home stadium	Azadi Stadium
FIFA code	IRN
First colours Second colours
First international
Iran 2–1  Kuwait (Kuwait City, Kuwait; 3 December 1977)[1]
Biggest win
Iran 10–0 Afghanistan U23 (Busan, South Korea; 28 September 2002)
Biggest defeat
Iran 2–6 Japan U23 (Tehran, Iran; 9 February 2001)
AFC U-22 Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 2013)
Best result	Quarter-finals: 2016
Asian Games
Appearances	6 (first in 2002)
Best result	Gold Medal (2002)

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.

Tournament records

Olympic Games record

Summer Olympic Games Record										Qualifications 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
1992	Did Not Qualify									8	5	2	1	19	6
1996										4	2	1	1	9	4
2000										4	1	1	2	3	6
2004										6	3	0	3	22	9
2008										6	1	2	3	6	7
2012										4	1	1	2	1	5
2016										8	5	0	3	21	9
2020										6	3	2	1	9	4
2024	To be determined									To be determined
2028
Total	-	0 / 7	-	-	-	-	-	-		46	21	9	16	90	50

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record										AFC U-23 qualification
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Squad		GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2014	Group Stage	3	1	1	1	6	5	Squad		5	4	1	0	13	2
2016	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	6	7	Squad		4	3	0	1	15	2
2018	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	2	3
2020	Group Stage	3	1	1	1	3	3	Squad		3	2	1	0	6	1
Total	3/4	10	4	2	4	15	15	-		14	10	2	2	36	8

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

Asian Games record

Asian Games record
Year	Round	PLD	W	D	L	GS	GA	Wildcard (Overage) Players
1951 to 1998	See Iran national team
2002	Champions	6	4	2	0	16	2	Ali Daei (33); Ebrahim Mirzapour (24); Yahya Golmohammadi (31)
2006	Third Place	6	4	1	1	10	6	Hassan Roudbarian (28); Arash Borhani (24); Jalal Hosseini (24)
2010	Fourth place	7	5	0	2	14	8	Mehdi Rahmati (27); Gholamreza Rezaei (26); Jalal Hosseini (28)
2014	Group Stage	2	0	1	1	2	5
2018	Round of 16	4	1	1	2	3	4
2022	To be determined
2026
2030
2034
Total	5/5	25	14	5	6	45	25

WAFF U-23 Championship record

Year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2015	Champions	4	3	1	0	8	3
Total	1/1	4	3	1	0	8	3

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

Previous matches

Date	Venue	Opponent	Competition	Result	Iranian scorers	Report
2019
15 January 2019	Aspire Zone, Doha	Tajikistan	4-team Tournament	1–2 (L)	Namdari  3'
18 January 2019	Aspire Zone, Doha	Kuwait	4-team Tournament	5–0 (W)	Arta  3', Sayyadmanesh  40', Delfi  50', Hosseinzadeh  54', Noorafkan  72'
21 January 2019	Aspire Zone, Doha	Qatar	4-team Tournament	2–1 (W)	Mehdikhani  3', Sayyadmanesh  17'
17 March 2019	Iran National Football Camp , Tehran	Syria	Friendly	1–2 (L)	Noorafkan
22 March 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Turkmenistan	2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification	3–1 (W)	Bashimov  35' (o.g.), Noorafkan  54', Jabireh  90+2'	Report
24 March 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Yemen	2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification	3–0 (W)	Shekari  55', Jabireh  67', Mehdikhani  75'	Report
26 March 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Iraq	2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification	0–0 (D)		Report
6 September 2019	AGMK Stadium, Olmaliq	Uzbekistan	Friendly	0–1 (L)
9 September 2019	Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent	Uzbekistan	Friendly	1–4 (L)	Ghayedi  48'
14 October 2019	Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha	Australia	Friendly	2–1 (W)	Aghasi  4', Shojaei  25'
13 November 2019	Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar	Indonesia	Friendly	1–1 (D)	Azadi  67'
16 November 2019	Pakansari Stadium, Cibinong	Indonesia	Friendly	1–2 (L)	Shekari  39' (pen.)
21 November 2019	Aspire Zone, Doha	Qatar	Friendly	1–2 (L)	Noorafkan  17' (pen.)
28 December 2019	Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha	Qatar	Friendly	2–2 (D)	Shekari  30' (pen.), Ghayedi  36'

Forthcoming matches

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent
2020
9 January 2020	2020 AFC U-23 Championship	Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla	Uzbekistan
12 January 2020	2020 AFC U-23 Championship	Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla	South Korea
15 January 2020	2020 AFC U-23 Championship	Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla	China PR

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Hamid Estili
Assistant coaches	Amir Hossein Peyrovani Reza Shahroudi Alireza Emamifar
Goalkeeping coach	Mohammad Habibi
Fitness coach	Hamid Reza noshadi
Physiotherapist	Shahid Oryani
Analyst	Mehdi Hosseinpour
Team doctor	Mohammad Hossein Moghaddam
Team manager	—

Players

Current squad

• The following players were selected to compete in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship.[4][5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	GK	Habib Far Abbasi	4 September 1997 (aged 22)	Tractor
12	GK	Meraj Esmaeili	13 January 2000 (aged 19)	Paykan
22	GK	Mehdi Nourollahi	6 April 1998 (aged 21)	Saipa
2	DF	Hossein Saki	10 May 1997 (aged 22)	Sanat Naft
3	DF	Mehran Derakhshan Mehr	10 August 1998 (aged 21)	Foolad
4	DF	Mojtaba Najjarian	15 February 1998 (aged 21)	Foolad
5	DF	Shahin Taherkhani	7 January 1997 (aged 23)	Paykan
19	DF	Matin Karimzadeh	1 July 1998 (aged 21)	Esteghlal
21	DF	Omid Noorafkan ^(Captain)	9 April 1997 (aged 22)	Sepahan
23	DF	Aref Aghasi	2 January 1997 (aged 23)	Foolad
6	MF	Sina Zamehran	10 March 1997 (aged 22)	Foolad
8	MF	Mehdi Mehdikhani	26 July 1997 (aged 22)	Persepolis
13	MF	Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh	30 October 2000 (aged 19)	Saipa
15	MF	Reza Dehghani	7 January 1998 (aged 22)	Sepahan
17	MF	Jafar Salmani	12 January 1997 (aged 22)	Portimonense
20	MF	Mohammad Khodabandelou	7 September 1999 (aged 20)	Paykan
7	FW	Amir Roostaei	5 August 1997 (aged 22)	Paykan
9	FW	Allahyar Sayyadmanesh	29 June 2001 (aged 18)	Zorya Luhansk
10	FW	Reza Shekari	31 May 1998 (aged 21)	Tractor
11	FW	Mehdi Ghayedi	5 December 1998 (aged 21)	Esteghlal
14	FW	Reza Jabireh	7 July 1997 (aged 22)	Paykan
16	FW	Mohammad Mohebi	20 December 1998 (aged 21)	Sepahan
18	FW	Ali Shojaei	27 January 1997 (aged 22)	Persepolis

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Nima Mirzazad	27 February 1997			Nassaji	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
GK	Ali Keykhosravi	13 January 1999			Sepahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Sadegh Moharrami	1 March 1996			Dinamo Zagreb	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Mohammad Naderi	5 October 1996			Persepolis	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Ali Shojaei	8 January 1997			Saipa	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Aref Gholami	19 April 1997			Sepahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Majid Hosseini	20 June 1996			Trabzonspor	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Mehran Derakhshan Mehr	10 September 1998			Zob Ahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Milad Sarlak	26 March 1995			Persepolis	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Nima Taheri	15 April 1997			Zob Ahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF	Taha Shariati	3 March 2000			Saipa	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Mahan Rahmani	15 June 1996			Paykan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Reza Shekari	31 May 1998			Tractor	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Nima Mokhtari	10 May 1998			Gostaresh Foolad	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Omid Noorafkan	9 April 1997			Charleroi	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Sina Moridi	5 May 1996			Foolad	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Hamidreza Taherkhani	27 March 1999			Persepolis	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Saeid Hosseinpour	12 October 1998			Persepolis	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Mohammad Khorram	7 April 1997			Gostaresh Foulad	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Saber Hardani	27 October 1996			Foolad	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Ali Taheran	7 April 1997			Tractor Sazi	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF	Reza Dehghani	7 January 1998			Sepahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW	Reza Mirzaei	14 April 1996			Sepahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW	Reza Jafari	11 January 1997			Saipa	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW	Mohammadreza Abbasi	27 July 1996			Zob Ahan	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW	Hossein Mehraban	12 May 1996			Padideh	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW	Ali Gholizadeh	10 March 1996			Charleroi	AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017

AFC U-23 Championships

• AFC U-23 Championship 2013 squad
• AFC U-23 Championship 2016 squad
• AFC U-23 Championship 2020 squad

Honours

• Asian Games^†

Gold Medal (1): 2002

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.

• WAFF U23 Championships

Winners (1): 2015

• 2nd place in 2002 west asian games.
• 3rd place in 2005 west asian games.

Friendly tournaments

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

Managers

• Hassan Habibi (1991–1994)
• Enver Hadžiabdić (1994)
• Hans-Jürgen Gede (1994–1995)
• Hassan Habibi (1995)
• Ebrahim Ghasempour (1997–1999)
• Egon Coordes (1999)
• Mehdi Monajati (1999–2002)
• Branko Ivanković (2002–2003)
• Mohammad Mayeli Kohan (2003–2004)
• Renê Simões (2005–2006)
• Vinko Begović (2006–2007)
• Nenad Nikolić (2007–2008)
• Gholam Hossein Peyrovani (2009–2010)
• Human Afazeli (2010–2011)
• Ali Reza Mansourian (2011–2014)
• Human Afazeli (2014)
• Nelo Vingada (2014)
• Mohammad Khakpour (2014–2016)
• Amir Hossein Peiravani (2017)
• Zlatko Kranjčar (2018–2019)
• Farhad Majidi (2019)
• Hamid Estili (2019–present)

See also

• Iran national football team
• Iran national under-20 football team
• Iran national under-17 football team

References

1. "اولین تیم امید تاریخ (عکس) :: ورزش سه" (in Persian). 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.
4. "Iran finalize squad for AFC U23 Championship". Tehran Times. 30 December 2019.
5. "فهرست نهایی تیم امید ایران اعلام شد" (in Persian). Varzesh3. 30 December 2019.

External links

• Official Website of IR Iran Football Federation
• https://web.archive.org/web/20101224031211/http://www.football3.ir/