Top 10 Best Iranian Football (Soccer) Players of All Time

A photo of the Iran National Team by Javid Nikpour – Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Best Iranian Football (Soccer) Players of All Time

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is coming up. Did your national team qualify to play in the competition? If not you better find a team of the 31 teams to support because the tournament is gonna be lit. One of a kind I would like to say!

Iran’s national football team represents Iran in international football and is controlled by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The team has wisely selected some of the legendary players, who we did not highlight all. However, the ones in the article are ten of the best Iranian footballers of all time.

1. Alireza Beiranvand

A photo of Beiranvand by Meghdad Madadi – Wikimedia commons

Alireza Safar Beiranvand born on 21 September 1992. The Iranian professional footballer plays as a goalkeeper for the Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and the Iran national team. Beiranvand represented Iran internationally at the 2015 and 2019 AFC Asian Cups, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In 2017, Beiranvand became the first Iranian ever to be nominated for an individual award at The Best FIFA Football Awards. He has been the best goalkeeper in the Persian Gulf Pro League for four consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2019.

Beiranvand has also been the Iranian Footballer of the Year in 2019 With 23 clean sheets in 37 matches during the 2017–18 season, he ranked as the second goalkeeper in the world for the cleanest sheets.

2. Sadegh Moharrami

Sadegh Moharrami photo by Hossein Zohrevand/Tasnim News Agency – Wikimedia commons

Sadegh Moharrami was born on 1 March 1996. The Iranian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatian First Football League. He was part of the Iran U-17 squad in the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship and the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

He was invited into the Iran U-20 squad by Ali Dousti Mehr to prepare for the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship. He made his debut as a substitute against Uzbekistan on 11 September 2018. He will be part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup squad for Iran.

3. Shojae Khalilzadeh

Shoja Khalilzadeh photo by Mojtaba Saleh/Fars News Agency – Wikimedia commons

Shoji Khalilzadeh was born on 14 May 1989. The Iranian professional footballer who plays as a center-back for Qatar Stars League club Al Ahli and Iran national team. He is known for his pace, artistic tackles, and positional sense.

Khalilzadeh was invited to Iran national team in 2012 by Carlos Queiroz. After seven years of notable absence from the international side, during the time of Queiroz and Marc Wilmots, Khalilzadeh was call-up by new coach Dragan Skočić in 2020 for friendlies against Uzbekistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

4. Milad Mohammadi

Milad Mohammadi photo by TheFarbod – Wikimedia commons

Milad Mohammadi Keshmarzi was born on 29 September 1993. The professional footballer who plays for Greek Super League club AEK Athens and the Iranian national team. Milad plays as a left-back and winger. He is known for his speed and versatility

5. Omid Ebrahimi

Omid Ebrahimi photo by Javid Nikpour – Wikimedia commons

Omid Ebrahimi Zarandini was born on 16 September 1987. The Iranian footballer plays for Al-Wakrah as a defensive midfielder. He made his debut under Carlos Queiroz on 9 December 2012 in a match against Saudi Arabia in the 2012 WAFF.

He was called into Iran’s 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014 by Carlos Queiroz. In May 2018 he was named to Iran’s preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was also called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

6. Milad Sarlak

Milad Zarlak photo by Mehdi Zare – Wikimedia commons

Milad Sarlak was born on 26 March 1995. The Iranian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and Iran national team.

He made his international career debut on 11 June 2021 against Cambodia. He will be in Iran’s 2022 FIFA World Cup squad.

7. Vahid Amiri

Vahid Amiri photo by Екатерина Лаут – Wikimedia commons

Vahid Amiri was born on 2 April 1988. He is an Iranian professional footballer who plays mainly as a winger for the Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and Iran national team.

Amiri represented the Iran national football team at the 2015 and 2019 AFC Asian Cups and also the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He predominantly plays as a left winger but can play in all attacking positions.

8. Mehdi Taremi

Mehdi Taremi photo by Meghdad Madadi – Tasnim News Agency – Wikimedia commons

Mehdi Taremi was born on 18 July 1992. The professional footballer who plays as a striker for Primeira Liga club Porto and the Iran national team. Having begun his career at Shahin Bushehr and Iranjavan, Taremi played for Persepolis between 2014 and 2018; he was the Persian Gulf Pro League top scorer on two occasions (2015–16 and 2016–17).

He played for Qatari side Al-Gharafa between 2018 and 2019, before joining Rio Ave in Portugal, with whom he was Primeira Liga joint-top scorer in 2019–20. In 2020, he moved to fellow Portuguese side, Porto. Taremi made his first senior appearance in 2015 and played at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

9. Mehdi Torabi

Mehdi Torabi photo by an Uknown author – Wikimedia commons

Mehdi Torabi was born on 10 September 1994. He is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and Iran national team. He made his debut against Uzbekistan in a friendly on 11 June 2015 where he scored the lone goal of the match.

On 3 September 2015 Torabi came off the bench to score in a 6–0 victory against Guam. In May 2018 he was named to Iran’s preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He is expected to be in Iran’s squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

10. Hossein Hosseini

Hossein Hosseini photo by Sajad Imanian (سجاد ایمانیان) – Wikimedia commons

Seyed Hossein Hosseini was born on 30 June 1992. He is an Iranian professional football player currently playing for Esteghlal in the Persian Gulf Pro League and Iran national football team.

Hossein Hosseini was called up to join the Iran national football team (Team Melli) by Dragan Skočić on 18 March 2022 for playing against South Korea and Lebanon on March 24th and 29th.