History of the Iran national football team began with the team's first international match on 23 August 1941. The Iranian Football Federation was founded in 1920.[1]

History

Early years

Dunai and Ghelichkhani at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The first match that Team Melli played was on 23 August 1941, away at Kabul in a 1–0 win against British India, while Iran's first FIFA international match was on 25 August 1941, away at Afghanistan.[2] Iran won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976), to which the team has not been able to add since.

1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina

Additional information: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
Additional information: 1978 FIFA World Cup – Group 4
Iran's squad playing in '78 World Cup match against Scotland in Cordoba, Estadio Cordoba, Argentina on 7 June 1978 (16:45)

In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran. Iran lost two of three group stage matches against the Netherlands and Peru.[3] Team Melli managed to surprise the footballing community[4] by securing one point in its first ever World Cup appearance against Scotland which saw Iraj Danaeifard cancel out an own goal scored by Andranik Eskandarian for the 1–1 draw.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Member Association – Iran". Archived from the original on June 3, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Iran: Fixtures and Results". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Iran in World Cup 1978". teammelli.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  4. ↑ "Iranian football facts". BBC News. 1 November 2001. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "while FIFA World Cup 2006 Iran Team Overview". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
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