The Iran national football team formed in 1920 and joined FIFA in 1945.The team affiliated to the Asian Football Confederation in 1958. Iran was suspended from FIFA in 2006 after government interference with the sport. The ban was lifted after less than a month and Iran returned to world football.

Iran has performed well at a regional level, becoming Asian Cup winners three times. All of the wins game before the team appeared at a world cup finals and the team has not added to its cup haul since 1976.

The 1980’s was a bad decade for Iran in general. With the 1979 revolution and the war with Iraq, football wasn’t on the agenda for Iranians for nine years. Due to the decimation of infrastructure and domestic teams, Iran failed to qualify for either the 1990 or 1994 world cups.

World cup history

1978

1978

Argentina

In 1978 Iran played at its first world cup tournament. The team qualified through a play-off against Australia (who were then playing in the Oceania confederation). Iran drew Netherlands, Peru and Scotland in the first round. Two defeats in the first two games ended any hopes of progression. A surprise 1-1 draw with Scotland in the last group game saw Iran take home a first world cup goal and point.

1998

France

Australia were once again the victims when Iran qualified for the 1998 world cup. The teams met in a repeat of the 1978 play-off and Iran progressed by the narrowest of margins on away goals.

Iran met Germany, United States and Yugoslavia in the group stage. The round began with a close but disappointing 1-0 defeat to Yugoslavia. The second game was a political hot potato as Iran squared up to the United States, two countries with huge disagreements over the Iranian revolution. In a welcome reminder of the potency of sport the two teams exchanged gifts and posed for photographs before kick-off. Iran won the game 2-1, taking their first world cup victory and sending the Americans home. The last game in the group was against Germany and ended in a 2-0 defeat that saw Iran finish third in the group.

2006

Germany

The Iran national football team returned to the world cup finals in 2006 as one of the earliest qualifiers. The team faced Angola, Mexico and Portugal in the first round. The campaign was disappointing with two losses in the first two games ending hopes of the second round. A 1-1 draw with Angola in the third match did little other than maintain some dignity.

2014

Brazil

The world cup in 2014 visited Brazil, and Germany became the first European side to win the tournament in South America. The Iran national football team began well with a deserved 0-0 against Nigeria. They came within a few second of another draw in their second game, this time against eventual runners-up Argentina. Leo Messi broke hearts with a last minute goal in a 1-0 defeat. With little chance of progression the side slumped to a 3-1 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their last game to finish bottom of the group.

2018

Russia

The Iran national football team entered qualifying in the second round and have been drawn in Group D alongside Oman, Turkmenistan, Guam, and India.

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