IRAN
Coach:
Carloz
Queiroz
Road to Brazil: Nr.1 in Asiagr.A
Honours: 3 times Asian
champ.
WC-app.: 4 (Incl.this) First WC: 1978 Association:
www.ffiri.ir/
After the 1979
Revolution, football
was somewhat
neglected and cast
aside. During the
1980s, the Iranian
national team did
not feature in World
Cup competitions due
to the Iran–Iraq War
(1980–88) and
domestic football
suffered the
inevitable effects
of conflict. The
national team
withdrew from the
Asian qualifiers for
the 1982 World Cup,
and refused to
participate in the
qualifiers for the
1986 World Cup
because of having to
play on neutral
ground. The war and
political upheavals
left Iran without
major club
competitions until
1989 when the Qods
League was
established. A year
later, the Qods
League was renamed
the Azadegan League.
Despite failing to
qualify for either
the 1990 or the 1994
World Cups, it was
during this period
that a number of
quality players
burst onto the
Iranian football
scene, laying the
foundation for third
place in 1996 AFC
Asian Cup and their
second stab at World
Cup glory in 1998.
In theier last World
cup, 2006, Iran was
eliminated after
just one draw (1-1
vs Angola)
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