Iran national football team records and statistics

This article lists various football records in relation to the Iran national football team (Team Melli). The page is updated where necessary after each Iran match, and is correct as of 9 January 2008.

Appearances

Most appearances

Javad Nekounam, 151 caps, 2000 - 2015

Ali Daei, 149 caps, 1993 - 2006

Other centurions

Ali Karimi, 127 caps, 1998 - 2013

Jalal Hosseini, 115 caps, 2007 - 2018

Mehdi Mahdavikia, 110 caps, 1996 - 2009

Ehsan Hajsafi, 109 caps, 2008 -

Andranik Teymourian, 101 caps,2005 -2016

World Cup appearances

• Mehdi Mahdavikia, 6 Games, 1998, 2006
• Andranik Teymourian, 6 Games, 2006, 2014
• Ehsan Hajsafi, 6 Games, 2014, 2018
• Alireza Jahanbakhsh, 6 Games, 2014, 2018

World Cup event appearances

• Masoud Shojaei, 3 World Cups, 2006, 2014, 2018

Oldest player to feature at the World Cup

Ali Daei, 37 years, 2006

Youngest player to feature at the World Cup

Hossein Kaebi, 20 years and 9 months, 2006.

Oldest player to feature at the Asian Cup

Ali Daei, 35 years, 2004

First appearance by a player who had never played for an Iranian club

Ferydoon Zandi, vs Bahrain on 9 February 2005

First player to debut as a substitute

Mohammad Mohajer, on 25 August 1941 vs Afghanistan

Most capped players

As of 14 November 2019, the players with the most caps for Iran are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Javad Nekounam	2000–2015	151	39
2	Ali Daei	1993–2006	149	109
3	Ali Karimi	1998–2013	127	38
4	Jalal Hosseini	2007–2018	115	8
5	Mehdi Mahdavikia	1996–2009	110	13
6	Ehsan Hajsafi	2008–0000	109	6
7	Andranik Teymourian	2005–2016	101	9
8	Karim Bagheri	1993–2010	87	50
	Masoud Shojaei	2004–		8
10	Hossein Kaebi	2002–2011	84	1
11	Hamid Reza Estili	1990–2000	82	12
12	Mohammad Nosrati	2002–2013	81	5
	Karim Ansarifard	2009–		24
14	Javad Zarincheh	1987–2000	80	1
15	Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh	1987–1998	79	0
16	Ali Parvin	1970–1980	76	13
	Mehdi Rahmati	2004–2012		0
18	Yahya Golmohammadi	1993-2006	74	5
19	Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht	2000–2008	73	14

The records are collected based on data from FIFA and RSSSF.
bold names denotes a player still playing or available for selection.

Goals

First goal

Masoud Boroumand vs Turkey in a Friendly 26-Oct-47

Most goals

Ali Daei, 109, (1993 - 2006)

Most goals in a match

• Karim Bagheri, 7 goals, vs Maldives on 02-Jun-97 (1998 World Cup Qualification)

• Karim Bagheri, 6 goals, vs Guam on 24-Nov-00 (2002 World Cup Qualification)

• Ali Daei, 5 goals, vs Sri Lanka on 12-Jun-96 (1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification)

Four goals in a match

• Behtash Fariba, vs Bangladesh on 22-Sep-80 (1980 AFC Asian Cup)
• Nasser Mohammadkhani, vs Bangladesh on 07-Aug-84 (1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification);
• Ali Asghar Modir Roosta, vs Taiwan on 25-Jun-93 (1994 World Cup qualification)
• Ali Daei, vs Nepal on 10-Jun-96 (1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification)
• Ali Daei, vs South Korea on 16-Dec-96 (1996 AFC Asian Cup)
• Ali Karimi, vs Guam on 24-Nov-00 (2002 World Cup Qualification)
• Ali Daei, vs Laos on 17-Nov-04 (2006 World Cup qualification)
• Karim Ansarifard, vs Cambodia on 11-Oct-2019 (2022 World Cup qualification)

Three goals in a match

• Masoud Boroumand, vs Pakistan on 27-Oct-50
• Abbas Hajari, vs Pakistan on 14-Dec-59 (1960 AFC Asian Cup qualification)
• Ali Jabbari, vs Pakistan on 12-Mar-69
• Hossein Kalani, vs Iraq on 9-May-72 (1972 AFC Asian Cup)
• Ali Jabbari, vs Thailand on 13-May-72 (1972 AFC Asian Cup)
• Gholam Hossein Mazloumi, vs Pakistan on 3-Sep-74 (1974 Asian Games)
• Gholam Hossein Mazloumi, vs South Yemen on 8-Jun-76 (1976 AFC Asian Cup)
• Karim Bavi, vs Nepal on 4-Jun-88 (1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification)
• Farshad Pious, vs Malaysia on 24-Sep-90 (1990 Asian Games)
• Karim Bagheri, vs Sri Lanka on 17-Jun-96 (1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification)
• Hamid Estili, vs Maldives on 02-Jun-97 (1998 World Cup Qualification)
• Ali Daei, vs Uzbekistan on 14-Dec-98 (1998 Asian Games)
• Ali Daei, vs Maldives on 31-Mar-00 (2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification)
• Ali Daei, vs Guam on 24-Nov-00 (2002 World Cup Qualification)
• Farhad Majidi, vs Guam on 24-Nov-00 (2002 World Cup Qualification)
• Sirous Dinmohammadi, vs Oman on 8-Aug-01
• Ali Karimi, vs Slovakia on 15-Aug-01
• Ali Daei, vs Lebanon on 17-Jun-04 (2004 WAFF West Asian Championship)
• Ali Karimi, vs South Korea on 31-Jul-04 (2004 AFC Asian Cup)
• Javad Nekounam, vs Lebanon on 6-Feb-13 (2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification)
• Sardar Azmoun, vs North Macedonia on 2-Jun-16
• Mehdi Taremi, vs Syria on 6-Jun-19
• Sardar Azmoun, vs Cambodia on 11-Oct-2019 (2022 World Cup qualification)

First goal in a World Cup match

Iraj Danaeifard, 1978 FIFA World Cup vs Scotland

First goal in a World Cup qualifying campaign

Gholam Vafakhah, vs Kuwait on 6-May-73 (1974 World Cup Qualification)

Oldest goalscorer at the World Cup

Yahya Golmohammadi, 35 years, 2006

Youngest goalscorer at the World Cup

Mehdi Mahdavikia, 20 years, 1998

Oldest goalscorer at the Asian Cup

Ali Daei, 35 years, 2004

Most goals scored from penalties

Ali Daei 16 Goals.

Youngest goalscorer

allahyar Sayyadmanesh, 17 years and 342 days, 2019

First goal by a substitute

First Iranian goalscorer at the Azadi Stadium  : Parviz Ghelichkhani vs Australia 24 August 1973

Hat-tricks

Masoud Boroumand, scorer of first hat-trick for Iran.

Ali Daei, scorer of eight hat-tricks for Iran.

Player	Against	Goals	Date	Competition
Masoud Boroumand	Pakistan	3	27-Oct-1950	International Match
Abbas Hajari	Pakistan	3	14-Dec-1959	1960 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Ali Jabbari	Pakistan	3	12-Mar-1969	International Match
Hossein Kalani	Iraq	3	9-May-1972	1972 AFC Asian Cup
Ali Jabbari	Thailand	3	13-May-1972	1972 AFC Asian Cup
Gholam Hossein Mazloumi	Pakistan	3	3-Sep-1974	1974 Asian Games
Gholam Hossein Mazloumi	South Yemen	3	8-Jun-1976	1976 AFC Asian Cup
Behtash Fariba	Bangladesh	4	22-Sep-1980	1980 AFC Asian Cup
Nasser Mohammadkhani	Bangladesh	4	07-Aug-1984	1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Karim Bavi	Nepal	3	4-Jun-1988	1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Farshad Pious	Malaysia	3	24-Sep-1990	1990 Asian Games
Ali Asghar Modir Roosta	Taiwan	4	25-Jun-1993	1994 World Cup qualification
Ali Daei	Nepal	4	10-Jun-1996	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Ali Daei	Sri Lanka	5	12-Jun-1996	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Karim Bagheri	Sri Lanka	3	17-Jun-1996	1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Ali Daei	South Korea	4	16-Dec-1996	1996 AFC Asian Cup
Karim Bagheri	Maldives	7	02-Jun-1997	1998 World Cup Qualification
Hamid Estili	Maldives	3	02-Jun-1997	1998 World Cup Qualification
Ali Daei	Uzbekistan	3	14-Dec-1998	1998 Asian Games
Ali Daei	Maldives	3	31-Mar-2000	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Karim Bagheri	Guam	6	24-Nov-2000	2002 World Cup Qualification
Ali Karimi	Guam	4	24-Nov-2000	2002 World Cup Qualification
Ali Daei	Guam	3	24-Nov-2000	2002 World Cup Qualification
Farhad Majidi	Guam	3	24-Nov-2000	2002 World Cup Qualification
Sirous Dinmohammadi	Oman	3	8-Aug-2001	International Match
Ali Karimi	Slovakia	3	15-Aug-2001	International Match
Ali Daei	Lebanon	3	17-Jun-2004	2004 WAFF West Asian Championship
Ali Karimi	South Korea	3	31-Jul-2004	2004 AFC Asian Cup
Ali Daei	Laos	4	17-Nov-2004	2006 World Cup qualification
Javad Nekounam	Lebanon	3	6-Feb-2013	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Sardar Azmoun	North Macedonia	3	2-Jun-2016	International Match
Mehdi Taremi	Syria	3	6-Jun-2019	International Match
Karim Ansarifard	Cambodia	4	11-Oct-2019	2022 World Cup qualification
Sardar Azmoun	Cambodia	3	11-Oct-2019	2022 World Cup qualification

Home record

As of 6 June 2019

Stadium	City	Played	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	First Match	Most Recent
Amjadieh Stadium	Tehran	26	17	4	5	69	19	+50	65.38%	26 October 1950, v. Afghanistan	15 March 1977, v. Hungary
Aryamehr/Azadi Stadium	Tehran	151	107	30	14	351	82	+269	70.86%	4 May 1973, v. North Korea	10 October 2019, v. Cambodia
Rah ahan Stadium (not official - Iran B)	Tehran	0(2)	0(2)	0	0	0(5)	0(2)	0(3)	100%	14 July 1975, v. Zaie	16 July 1975, v. Egypt
Taj Gozari/Hafezieh Stadium	Shiraz	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100%	6 April 1977, v. Syria	22 April 1977, v. Saudi Arabia
Takhti Mashhad Stadium	Mashhad	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%	5 February 1985, v. North Korea	5 February 1985, v. North Korea
Takhti Tabriz Stadium	Tabriz	5	4	1	0	27	1	+26	80%	17 May 1996, v. Qatar	19 September 2002, v. Paraguay
Yadegar-e Emam Stadium	Tabriz	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	0%	14 April 1998, v. Kuwait	10 August 2002, v. Azerbaijan
Takhti Tehran Stadium	Tehran	3	3	0	0	11	1	+10	100%	7 August 2008, v. Palestine	13 August 2008, v. Syria
Enghelab Stadium	Karaj	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100%	3 March 2014, v. Kuwait	3 March 2014, v. Kuwait
Total		191	135	37	19	468	107	+361	70.68%	26 October 1950, v. Afghanistan	10 October 2019, v. Cambodia

Minor Tournament

LG Cup Four Nations Tournament

Host nation(s) / year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Dif	Pts
1998 LG Cup	Third Place	2	1	0	1	1	2	-1	3
2000 LG Cup	Third Place	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	4
2001 LG Cup (Egypt)	Fourth Place	2	0	0	2	0	2	-2	0
2001 LG Cup (Iran)	Champions	2	2	0	0	9	2	+7	6
2002 LG Cup (Morocco)	Champions	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	4
2002 LG Cup (Iran)	Champions	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
2003 LG Cup (Nigeria)	Fourth Place 1	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0
2003 LG Cup (Iran)	Third Place	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	3
2006 LG Cup (Jordan)	Unknown 2	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	4
Total (All Matches)	9/9	17	7	5	5	24	14	+10	26
Total (Only Official Matches) *	9/9	13	6	3	4	19	10	+9	21

• consist of only official international "A" Senior matches (not include Youth, B Team and club team results).
• Source: http://www.rsssf.com/tablesl/lgcup.html
• 1-Third Place Match [Jun 1] Iran not play Ghana [Iran waited for 35 minutes on the pitch, while Ghana did not show up at all, apparently demanding prize money for the fourth-place finishers (uncommon in LG tournaments). Eventually Iran left, without obtaining any information from the Nigerian 'organisers'. One day later, the Nigerian FA awarded Ghana third place (and the relevant prize money) because Iran had left the pitch (sic!). Iran have understandably protested.]
• 2-apparently only 2 matches were played ([Oct 4] Iraq 0-2 Iran and [Oct 6] Jordan 0-0 Iran), structure of tournament unclear.

Minor Tournament

Host nation(s) / year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Dif	Pts
1969 Friendship Cup	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	13	5	+8	9
1971 Cyrus Cup	Champions	5	5	0	0	10	2	+8	15
1972 Independence Cup	Round 1	4	0	1	3	3	8	-5	1
1974 Iran Cup	Champions	4	2	2	0	4	1	+3	8
1975 Iran Cup	Round 1	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	1
1978 Afro-Asian Cup	Champions	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3
1982 Quaid-E-Azam Cup	Champions	6	5	1	0	22	1	+21	16
1985 Nehru Cup	Round 1	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3
1986 Fajr Cup	Runners-up	5	3	2	0	11	2	+9	11
1989 Peace and Friendship Cup	Fourth Place	5	1	3	1	5	4	+1	6
1991 Afro-Asian Cup	Runners-up	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
1998 Lunar New Year Cup	Third Place	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	1
1999 Ciao February Cup	Runners-up	2	1	0	1	3	4	-1	3
1999 Canada Cup	Runners-up	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
2001 Civilization Cup	Third Place	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4	4
2003 Lunar New Year Cup	Runners-up	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
2003 AFC–OFC Challenge Cup	Champions	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3
2005 Tehran Cup	Third Place	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3
2008 Oman Cup	Third Place	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	3
2010 Qatar Friendship Cup	Fourth Place	3	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
Total (All Matches)	20/20	60	30	15	15	107	52	+55	105
Total (Only Official Matches) *	20/20	37	18	8	11	70	34	+36	62

• consist of only official international "A" Senior matches (not include Youth, B Team and club team results).
• Quaid-E-Azam International Cup
• 1985 Nehru Cup
• 1999 Ciao February Cup
• 2001 Civilization Cup
• 2005 Tehran Cup

Special Tournament

Two Tournament for A team but Iran send B team and club team.

Host nation(s) / year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Dif	Pts
2003 Afro-Asian Games	Round 1	3	0	1	2	2	4	-2	1
2005 Islamic Solidarity Games	Third Place	6	3	3	0	16	1	+15	12
Total	2/2	9	3	4	2	18	5	+13	16

• all matches is unofficial international "A" Senior matches.

Special Friendly Match

Host nation(s) / year	Opponent	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Dif	Pts
75th Anniversary of Real Madrid		1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
1999 Kirin World Challenge Cup		1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Total	2/2	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2

Friendly Match Results

This table consist of only 2 sided team friendly match results (not include 3 and 4 nations cup and other friendly and Minor Tournament). Also only official international "A" Senior matches (not include Youth, B Team and club team results).

• As of 11 Nov 2016

Year	Pld	W	D	L	GS	GA	Dif	Pts
1941 Friendly Match	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
1950 Friendly Match	3	2	0	1	10	7	+3	6
1952 Friendly Match	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
1962 Friendly Match	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	1
1966 Friendly Match	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
1971 Friendly Match	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
1973 Friendly Match	1	1	0	0	0	1	-1	0
1974 Friendly Match	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0
1975 Friendly Match	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0
1976 Friendly Match	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
1977 Friendly Match	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2	2
1978 Friendly Match	5	0	2	3	2	5	-3	2
1980 Friendly Match	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	6
1985 Friendly Match	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	3
1986 Friendly Match	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	3
1989 Friendly Match	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
1990 Friendly Match	2	0	0	2	0	3	-3	0
1992 Friendly Match	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
1996 Friendly Match	9	4	3	2	9	6	+3	15
1997 Friendly Match	5	3	1	1	7	3	+4	10
1998 Friendly Match	3	0	1	2	1	6	-1	1
1999 Friendly Match	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
2000 Friendly Match	7	2	3	2	8	11	-3	9
2001 Friendly Match	3	1	1	1	7	7	0	4
2002 Friendly Match	4	2	1	1	7	5	+2	7
2003 Friendly Match	2	0	0	2	2	5	-3	0
2004 Friendly Match	2	1	0	1	1	2	-1	3
2005 Friendly Match	4	3	0	1	8	4	+4	9
2006 Friendly Match	4	3	1	0	11	6	+5	10
2007 Friendly Match	5	3	1	1	13	7	+6	10
2008 Friendly Match	6	3	2	1	5	3	+2	11
2009 Friendly Match	10	3	4	2	10	10	0	13
2010 Friendly Match	5	3	1	1	6	4	+2	10
2011 Friendly Match	4	4	0	0	10	0	+10	12
2012 Friendly Match	5	1	3	1	10	6	+4	6
2013 Friendly Match	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0
2014 Friendly Match	6	2	3	1	5	3	+2	9
2015 Friendly Match	5	3	1	1	6	4	+2	10
2016 Friendly Match	3	3	0	0	17	2	+15	9
Total	124	54	35	35	180	123	+57	196

All Time General Statistics Record / Overview of Results

As of 11 September 2018

• consist of only official international "A" Senior matches (not include Youth, B Team and club team results).

Tournament	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Dif	Pts
FIFA World Cup	15	2	4	9	9	24	-15	10
FIFA World Cup Qualification	122	75	31	16	261	79	+182	256
AFC Asian Cup	62	37	18	7	119	45	+74	129
AFC Asian Cup Qualification *	53	40	8	5	143	30	+113	128
Olympics (not official)	9	2	1	6	6	20	-14	7
Olympics Qualification (not official)	22	14	6	2	48	8	+40	48
Asian Games	47	30	5	12	86	34	+52	95
West Asian Championship	28	19	7	2	56	16	+40	64
Central Asian Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Official Matches (Exclude Olympics Qual and Olympics)	324	202	72	50	683	232	+451	678
RCD Cup / ECO Cup	11	8	1	2	27	9	+18	25
LG Cup	13	6	3	4	19	10	+9	22
Minor Tournament	37	18	8	11	70	34	+36	62
Special Friendly Match	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
Friendly Match**	124	54	35	35	180	123	+57	196
All of Friendly Matches and Other Tournaments	187	86	49	52	298	178	+120	307
Total Official and Friendly Matches	511	288	121	102	981	410	+571	985

• Exclude of 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qual because of counted in FIFA World Cup Qual (2018) matches.
  • consist of only 2 sided team friendly match results (not include 3 and 4 nations cup and other friendly and Minor Tournament).

Summary

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Asian Championship	3	0	5	8
Asian Games	3	2	0	5
West Asian Championship	4	1	1	6
West Asian Games	1	1	1	3
ECO Cup	3	3	0	6
LG Cup	3	0	3	6
Minor Tournament	5	6	4	15
AFC–OFC Challenge Cup	1	0	0	1
Afro-Asian Cup of Nations	0	1	0	1
Total	22	14	15	51

FIFA World Ranking

FIFA World Rankings for Iran, August 1993 – March 2018

Highest FIFA ranking

15 (July 2005)

Lowest FIFA ranking

122 (May 1996)

Best mover

65 (July 1996)

Worst mover

-43 (October 1995)

External links

• Team Melli records