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: CompetitionWild card 1Wild card 2Wild card 32002 Asian GamesAli Daei (C)Yahya GolmohammadiEbrahim Mirzapour (GK)2006 Asian GamesHassan Roudbarian (C/GK)Arash BorhaniJalal Hosseini2010 Asian GamesMehdi Rahmati (C/GK)Gholamreza Rezaei2022 Asian GamesHossein Hosseini (C/GK)Amir Arsalan Motahari
Results and fixtures
Legend
2026
Coaching staff Current coaching staff
Position Name Head coach Assistant coaches Goalkeeping coach Fitness coach analyzer _ Team Supervisor Jalal Nasiri Physiotherapist _ Team doctor _ Team manager Mehdi Mortazavian
Manager history
Heshmat Mohajerani (1977–1979) Iraj Soleimani (1980–1982) Mahmoud Yavari (1982–1984) Iraj Soleimani (1984–1991) Hassan Habibi (1991–1994) Enver Hadžiabdić (1994) Hans-Jürgen Gede (1994–1995) Hassan Habibi (1995) Ebrahim Ghasempour (1997–1999) Egon Coordes (1999) Mehdi Monajati (1999–2002) Branko Ivanković (2002–2003) Mohammad Mayeli Kohan (2003–2004) Renê Simões (2005–2006) Vinko Begović (2006–2007) Nenad Nikolić (2007–2008) Gholam Hossein Peyrovani (2009–2010) Human Afazeli (2010–2011) Ali Reza Mansourian (2011–2014) Human Afazeli (2014) Nelo Vingada (2014) Mohammad Khakpour (2014–2016) Amir Hossein Peiravani (2017) Zlatko Kranjčar (2018–2019) Farhad Majidi (2019) Hamid Estili (2019–2021) Mehdi Mahdavikia (2021–2022) Reza Enayati (2023) Omid Ravankhah (2025) Hossein Abdi (2026)
Players Current squad 2026 Asian Games squad The following 23 players were called up for the 2026 Asian Games.
* Over-aged player.
Previous squads AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2013 AFC U-23 Championship squad 2016 AFC U-23 Championship squad 2020 AFC U-23 Championship squad 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup squads 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup squads
Asian Games 2002 Asian Games Squad 2006 Asian Games Squad 2010 Asian Games Squad 2014 Asian Games Squad 2018 Asian Games Squad 2022 Asian Games Squad 2026 Asian Games Squad
Honours Continental Asian Games† 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 WAFF U-23 Championship Winners (1): 2015 Runners-up (1): 2023 West Asian Games Champions (1): 1997. Runners-up (1): 2002. 3rd place (1): 2005.
Other Semi-finalists in 1999 Dunhill Cup 1st place in 2006 VTV-T&T Cup (Spring Cup) 3rd place in 2008 Turkmenistan President's Cup 1st place in 2010 Velayat Cup 2nd place in 2010 Ho Chi Minh City Cup 1st place in 2013 International Friendship Youth Tournament 1st place in Antalya Tournament 3rd place in 2025 Manas Cup
Competitive Record Olympic Games Summer Olympic GamesQualificationYearResultRankMWDLGFGAGDSquadMWDLGFGAGDLink1908–1988See Iran national teamSee Iran national team 1992Did not qualify8521196+13Link 1996421194+5Link 2000411236-3Link 20046303229+13Link 2008612367-1Link 2012411215-4Link 2016Via AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2020 2024 2028Total—0/9––––––––32137125336+17Link
AFC U-23 Asian Cup AFC U-23 Asian CupQualificationYearResultRankMWDLGFGAGDSquadMWDLGFGAGDLink 2014Group Stage9th311165+1Squad5410132+11Link 2016Quarter-finals6th420267-1Squad4301152+13Link 2018Did not qualify210123-1Link 2020Group stage9th3111330Squad321061+5Link 202212th302134-1Squad330092+7Link 2024 Did not qualify 320171+6Link 2026Group stage14th302101-1Squad3300132+11Link 2028To be determinedTo be determined Total 5/8 164661820-2—2318236513+52Link
Asian Games Asian Games RecordYearResultPldWDLGFGASquad1951 to 1998See Iran national team 2002Gold medal6420162Squad 2006Bronze medal6411106Squad 2010Fourth place7 5 0 214 8Squad 2014Group stage201125Squad 2018Round of 16411234Squad 2022Quarter-finals531191Squad 2026Group stage311145SquadTotal7/73318785831—
WAFF U-23 Championship WAFF U-23 Championship recordYearResultMWDLGFGA 2015Champions431083 2021Not a WAFF member 2022 2023Runners-up413053Total2/48440136
West Asian Games West Asian Games recordYearResultMWDLGFGA 1997Champions431084 2002Runners-up413054 2005Third place4310102Total3/3127502310
Islamic Solidarity Games Islamic Solidarity Games recordYearResultMWDLGFGA 2005See Iran B national team 2010Cancelled 2013Did not enter 2017 2021Group Stage300309 2025 To be determinedTotal1/4300309
Head-to-head record The following table shows Iran's head-to-head record in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup. OpponentWin %Total
See also Sport in Iran Football in Iran Women's football in Iran Iran national football team Iran national under-20 football team Iran national under-17 football team Iran national futsal team Iran national beach soccer team Iran women's national football team
References
External links Official Website of IR Iran Football Federation at archive.org Official Website of IR Iran Football Federation https://web.archive.org/web/20101224031211/http://www.football3.ir/