Iran national under-23 football team

Iran under-23
Nickname(s)Team Melli Omid (The Hope National Team)
AssociationFFIRI
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Head coachMehdi Mahdavikia
CaptainYasin Salmani
Home stadiumAzadi Stadium
FIFA codeIRN
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
Appearances4 (first in 2013)
Best resultQuarter-finals: 2016
Asian Games
Appearances6 (first in 2002)
Best result Gold Medal (2002)

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 and 2010:

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

Results and fixtures

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2021

Date Venue Opponent Competition Result Iranian scorers Report
2021
25 October 2021 Central Republican Stadium, Dushanbe    Nepal 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification 4–0 (W) Lamouchi 46'
Nokhodkar 77', 79'
Salmani 90+3'
Report (AFC)
28 October 2021 Central Republican Stadium, Dushanbe  Lebanon 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification 2–0 (W) Limouchi 5'
Kor 90+5'
31 October 2021 Central Republican Stadium, Dushanbe  Tajikistan 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification 3–2 (W) Salmani 13', 19', 45'

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 15 September 2021 [4]
PositionName
Head coach Mehdi Mahdavikia
Assistant coaches John Lammers
Mehran Shadidipour
Goalkeeping coach Mario Miltner
Fitness coach Timo Rosenberg
Physiotherapist Shahid Oryani
Team doctor Mohammad Hossein Moghaddam
Team manager Mohammad Mohammadi

Manager history

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected to compete in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship.[5][6]
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1 1GK Habib Far Abbasi (1997-09-04)4 September 1997 (aged 22) Tractor
12 1GK Meraj Esmaeili (2000-01-13)13 January 2000 (aged 19) Paykan
22 1GK Mehdi Nourollahi (1998-04-06)6 April 1998 (aged 21) Saipa

2 2DF Hossein Saki (1997-05-10)10 May 1997 (aged 22) Sanat Naft
3 2DF Mehran Derakhshan Mehr (1998-08-10)10 August 1998 (aged 21) Foolad
4 2DF Mojtaba Najjarian (1998-02-15)15 February 1998 (aged 21) Foolad
5 2DF Shahin Taherkhani (1997-01-07)7 January 1997 (aged 23) Paykan
19 2DF Matin Karimzadeh (1998-07-01)1 July 1998 (aged 21) Esteghlal
21 2DF Omid Noorafkan (captain) (1997-04-09)9 April 1997 (aged 22) Sepahan
23 2DF Aref Aghasi (1997-01-02)2 January 1997 (aged 23) Foolad

6 3MF Sina Zamehran (1997-03-10)10 March 1997 (aged 22) Foolad
8 3MF Mehdi Mehdikhani (1997-07-26)26 July 1997 (aged 22) Persepolis
13 3MF Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh (2000-10-30)30 October 2000 (aged 19) Saipa
15 3MF Reza Dehghani (1998-01-07)7 January 1998 (aged 22) Sepahan
17 3MF Jafar Salmani (1997-01-12)12 January 1997 (aged 22) Portimonense
20 3MF Mohammad Khodabandelou (1999-09-07)7 September 1999 (aged 20) Paykan

7 4FW Amir Roostaei (1997-08-05)5 August 1997 (aged 22) Paykan
9 4FW Allahyar Sayyadmanesh (2001-06-29)29 June 2001 (aged 18) Zorya Luhansk
10 4FW Reza Shekari (1998-05-31)31 May 1998 (aged 21) Tractor
11 4FW Mehdi Ghayedi (1998-12-05)5 December 1998 (aged 21) Esteghlal
14 4FW Reza Jabireh (1997-07-07)7 July 1997 (aged 22) Paykan
16 4FW Mohammad Mohebi (1998-12-20)20 December 1998 (aged 21) Sepahan
18 4FW Ali Shojaei (1997-01-27)27 January 1997 (aged 22) Persepolis

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for a team in the last 12 months.
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Nima Mirzazad (1997-02-27) 27 February 1997 Nassaji AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
GK Ali Keykhosravi (1999-01-13) 13 January 1999 Sepahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017

DF Sadegh Moharrami (1996-03-01) 1 March 1996 Dinamo Zagreb AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Mohammad Naderi (1996-10-05) 5 October 1996 Persepolis AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Ali Shojaei (1997-01-08) 8 January 1997 Saipa AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Aref Gholami (1997-04-19) 19 April 1997 Sepahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Majid Hosseini (1996-06-20) 20 June 1996 Trabzonspor AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Mehran Derakhshan Mehr (1998-09-10) 10 September 1998 Zob Ahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Milad Sarlak (1995-03-26) 26 March 1995 Persepolis AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Nima Taheri (1997-04-15) 15 April 1997 Zob Ahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
DF Taha Shariati (2000-03-03) 3 March 2000 Saipa AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017

MF Mahan Rahmani (1996-06-15) 15 June 1996 Paykan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Reza Shekari (1998-05-31) 31 May 1998 Tractor AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Nima Mokhtari (1998-05-10) 10 May 1998 Gostaresh Foolad AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Omid Noorafkan (1997-04-09) 9 April 1997 Charleroi AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Sina Moridi (1996-05-05) 5 May 1996 Foolad AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Hamidreza Taherkhani (1999-03-27) 27 March 1999 Persepolis AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Saeid Hosseinpour (1998-10-12) 12 October 1998 Persepolis AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Mohammad Khorram (1997-04-07) 7 April 1997 Gostaresh Foulad AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Saber Hardani (1996-10-27) 27 October 1996 Foolad AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Ali Taheran (1997-04-07) 7 April 1997 Tractor Sazi AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
MF Reza Dehghani (1998-01-07) 7 January 1998 Sepahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017

FW Reza Mirzaei (1996-04-14) 14 April 1996 Sepahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW Reza Jafari (1997-01-11) 11 January 1997 Saipa AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW Mohammadreza Abbasi (1996-07-27) 27 July 1996 Zob Ahan AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW Hossein Mehraban (1996-05-12) 12 May 1996 Padideh AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW Mehrdad Farimani (1996-08-31) 31 August 1996 Padideh AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017
FW Ali Gholizadeh (1996-03-10) 10 March 1996 Charleroi AFC U-23 CQ, July 2017

Previous squads

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Honours

Continental

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.

Regional

Winners (1): 2015
Runners-up (1): 2002.
3rd place (1): 2005.

Other

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
19081988 See Iran national team See Iran national team
1992Did not qualify 8521196
1996 421194
2000 411236
2004 6303229
2008 612367
2012 411215
2016 8503219
2020 632194
2024 To be determined To be determined
2028
2032
Total0/7 46219169050

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
2014Group Stage311165Squad5410132
2016Quarter-finals420267Squad4301152
2018Did not qualify210123
2020Group Stage311133Squad321061
2022Qualified330092
Total4/5104241515-1713224510
*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
2002Champions6420162Squad
2006Third Place6411106Squad
2010Fourth place7502148Squad
2014Group Stage201125Squad
2018Round of 16411234Squad
2022To be determined
2026
2030
2034
Total5/52514564525

WAFF U-23 Championship

WAFF U-23 Championship record
Year Result GP W D L GS GA
2015Champions431083
2021–onwardsNot WAFF member
Total1/2431083

See also

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. ایرنا: آشنایی با دستیاران مهدوی‌کیا در تیم امید
  5. "Iran finalize squad for AFC U23 Championship". Tehran Times. 30 December 2019.
  6. "فهرست نهایی تیم امید ایران اعلام شد" (in Persian). Varzesh3. 30 December 2019.
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