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Wikipedia - Iran national under-23 football team
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, the Iran under-23 team was given special permission to participate in the Asian Games, 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, 2010 And 2022:
| 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 | |
| 2022 Asian Games | Hossein Hosseini (C/GK) | Amir Arsalan Motahari |
L'Iran a participé à six Coupes du monde de la FIFA, avec une place de troisième en 1978 et en 2002 comme meilleur résultat. L'équipe a également remporté trois Coupes d'Asie (1968, 1972 et 1976) et quatre Coupes du golfe Persique (1994, 2002, 2008 et 2012).
L'Iran est actuellement classé 21ème au classement FIFA, ce qui en fait l'équipe la mieux classée d'Asie. L'équipe est connue pour ses joueurs talentueux, son style de jeu défensif et son esprit sportif.