The Iran men's national volleyball team (), represents Iran in international tournaments and friendly matches under the administration of the Iran Volleyball Federation (IRIVF). The Iranian national volleyball team is one of the best teams in the world. The team has reached as high as sixth place in the FIVB Senior World Rankings. Notable achievements include finishing second in the group stage of the 2019 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League and winning the bronze medal at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Grand Champions Cup.
In 2017, Iran secured third place in a global competition at the senior level, winning the bronze medal at the 2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup.
Ranked among the most powerful teams in the world and Asia, the Iranian national volleyball team has won the Asian Championship four times—in 2011, 2013, 2019, and 2021. Representing Iran at the Asian Games, the team secured the gold medal on four occasions: at the 2014 Incheon, 2018 Jakarta-Palembang, 2022 Hangzhou and 2026 Hangzhou Games . Additionally, the Iranian national volleyball team has won the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup three times and finished as runners-up twice.
Iran is the best volleyball team in the world at the youth level. Iranian teams consistently win world championships at the U-13, U-17, U-19, and U-23 levels, and the national team has earned a reputation as an undisputed global powerhouse. Across all age groups—from the youngest levels through to the senior team—Iran consistently possesses the world's finest volleyball talent.
Other honors for Iranian volleyball include five titles at the Solidarity Games (won in 2005, 2013, 2017, 2021, and 2025), as well as three championships and two runner-up finishes in the Central Asian competitions and a silver medal at the West Asian Games. Iranian volleyball's achievements also include finishing second in the group stage and fifth overall in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, a fourth-place finish in the World League, and a sixth-place finish at the World Championship.
As of 11 September 2022, Team Melli is considered as the First team in Asia, as it ranks 7th in the FIVB World Rankings.The national team won the Asian Volleyball Championship four times : in 2011 Tehran, 2013 Dubai, 2019 Tehran and 2021 Chiba & FunabashiIn its appearance in the competition since joining the 2013 World League, Iran has been a dominant force in Group 1. Iran has also competed in the World Championship four times, with their best result obtained in 2014 Poland where they ended up in 6th place. In those games Iran qualified from the first and second rounds with, respectively, four and five wins; their only defeat was against France.
Iran defeated Japan meIn 2014 World League campaign, Iran's national team reached fourth place in Group 1 after a straight-set defeat to their Italian hosts in the bronze medal match. In these games, Iran had already defeated Brazil, Italy and Poland.Japan to win the gold medal at the Asian Games Korea in 2014. Consecutively, in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, Iran cruised past Japan and South Korea to win the gold medal. Iran made it to the Olympic Games for the first time in their history in 2016 as the top-ranked Asian squad at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan. Iran finished in 5th place in the competition.
History The history of Iran's national volleyball team dates back to around 1920 when Mir-Mehdi Varzandeh brought volleyball regulations to Iran. At that time a friendly match was arranged between the Iranian and Russian Army teams. In 1958, for the first time, national men's team of Pakistan was invited to Tehran for some friendly matches with the national team, club teams and the Army team. Iran's national team first attended an international competition at the 1958 Asian Games, where they won the silver medal.
Tournament records
Olympic Games Olympic Games recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1964Did not participateorDid not qualify6241012 1968Did not participateorDid not qualify 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 20047431311 20087251116 2012752169 2016Quarterfinals5th place6248127611811 2020Preliminary round9th place523911871217 2024Did not qualify716719 2028Future event 2032 Total2/16 —
FIVB World Cup FIVB World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1949Did not participateDid not participate 1952 1956 1960 1962 1966 197017th–24th places21st place11471624 1974Did not participateDid not participate 1978 1982Did not qualify 1986Did not participateDid not participate 1990Did not qualify 199441339 1998First round19th place3030921134 2002Did not participateDid not participate 2006First round21st place50521533090 2010First round19th place31257651167 20145th place match6th place1275262133090 2018Second round13th place8441416440120 2022Round of 1613th place42279 2025Quarterfinals8th place5321111 2027 Qualified 2029Future event Total8/21 —
FIVB World Cup (1965–2019) FIVB World Cup (1965–2019) record (Defunct)YearRoundPosition 1965Did not participate 1969 1977 1981 1985 1989Did not qualify 19917th–12th places11th place817523 1995Did not qualify 1999 2003 2007 2011Round-robin9th place11561625 2015Round-robin8th place11471624 2019Round-robin8th place11471925 Total4/14 —
FIVB World Grand Champions Cup Third place Fourth place
FIVB World Grand Champions record (Defunct)YearRoundPosition 1993Did not qualify 1997 2001 2005 2009Round-robin5th place514814 2013Round-robin4th place5321010 2017Round-robin3rd place5411210 Total3/7 —
FIVB World League Fourth place
FIVB World League record (Defunct)Qualification recordYearRoundPosition 1990Did not participateDid not participate 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Did not qualify20206 2011 201210113 2013Intercontinental round9th place10552021440121 20143rd place match4th place16792832Directly qualified 2015Intercontinental round7th place12662521 2016Intercontinental round8th place9451522 2017Intercontinental round11th place9361123 Total5/28
FIVB Nations League FIVB Nations League record YearRoundPosition 2018Preliminary round10th place15782930 2019Final round pool play5th place171254121 2021Preliminary round12th place155102532 2022Quarterfinals7th place13762422 2023Preliminary round14th place122101631 2024Preliminary round15th place122101434 2025Preliminary round9th place12662524 2026Preliminary round15th place12 3 9 18 30 2027 Qualified Total 0 Titles 9/9 —
AVC Continental Championship Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place
AVC Continental Championship record YearRoundPosition 1975Did not participate 1979Classification 5th–8th6th place6331210 1983Did not participate 19879th place match10th place7431312 19897th place match8th place8351115 19917th place match7th place7341114 19935th place match5th place7431211 1995Championship4th place7431213 1997Classification 5th–8th6th place523811 1999Classification 5th–8th5th place6421310 20015th place match5th place6421410 2003Championship3rd place7521612 20055th place match6th place5321210 2007Championship5th place9541718 2009FinalRunners-up8712210 2011FinalChampions880242 2013FinalChampions770211 2015FinalRunners-up 862209 20175th place match5th place 8622010 2019FinalChampions871224 2021FinalChampions770211 2023FinalRunners-up541124 2026FinalRunners-up651156 Total 4 Titles 21/23 —
Asian Games Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place
Asian Games record YearRoundPosition 1958Round-robinRunners-up43196 1962Did not participate 1966Final round3rd place8531614 1970Round-robin5th place7341114 19743rd place match4th place52379 1978Did not participate 1982 1986 1990 19945th place match5th place9541616 1998Did not participate 2002FinalRunners-up6421210 20065th place match6th place31267 2010FinalRunners-up981254 2014FinalChampions880242 2018FinalChampions550150 2022FinalChampions550152 2026FinalChampions660185 2030Future event 2034 Total 4 Titles 12/18 —
AVC Cup (2008–2022) Champions Runners up Fourth place
AVC Cup (2008–2022) record (Defunct)YearRoundPosition 2008FinalChampions651168 2010FinalChampions660186 2012FinalRunners-up651167 20143rd place match4th place642149 2016FinalChampions660185 2018FinalRunners-up541145 20225th place match5th place532118 Total 3 Titles 7/7 —
Other tournaments Islamic Solidarity Games Champions Islamic Solidarity Games record YearRoundPosition 2005FinalChampions880243 2013FinalChampions660182 2017FinalChampions660183 2021FinalChampions541144 2025FinalChampions660185 2029 Future event Total 5 Titles 5/5 —
West Asian Games Runners up
West Asian Games record (Defunct)YearRoundPosition 2005Round-robinRunners-up541144Total1/1541144—
CAVA Championship Champions Runners up
CAVA Championship recordYearRoundPosition 2022FinalRunners-up532106 2023Round-robinChampions651174 2024Preliminary round5th place523711 2025FinalChampions660183 2026Did not participate Total 2 Titles 4/5 —
2026 Results and fixtures
# Opponent Result Host city Date Tournaments 1 1–3 (21–25, 25–23, 15–25, 23–25) Brasília 10 June 2026 FIVB Nations League 2 0–3 (23–25, 19–25, 21–25) 11 June 3 3–0 (25–23, 25–19, 25–23) 12 June 4 2–3 (23–25, 22–25, 25–23, 25–17, 12–15) 14 June 5 2–3 (21–25, 25–23, 21–25, 26–24, 15–17) Orléans 24 June 6 0–3 (23–25, 20–25, 29–31) 25 June 7 2–3 (19–25, 19–25, 25–20, 25–23, 12–15) 26 June 8 3–1 (25–22, 25–21, 20–25, 30–28) 28 June 9 1–3 (22–25, 21–25, 31–29, 19–25) Belgrade 15 July 10 3–2 (25–22, 26–28, 18–25, 25–20, 15–12) 16 July 11 0–3 (25–27, 19–25, 24–26) 17 July 12 1–3 (25–17, 22–25, 16–25, 19–25) 19 July 13 3–0 (25–15, 25–12, 25–22) Kitakyushu 4 September2026 AVC Continental Championship 14 3–0 (25–20, 28–26, 25–18) 6 September 15 3–1 (25–23, 23–25, 25–22, 25–23) 9 September 16 3–1 (25–19, 25–19, 21–25, 25–18) 11 September 17 3–1 (25–21, 17–25, 25–17, 25–22) 12 September 18 0–3 (21–25, 24–26, 23–25) 13 September 19 3–0 (25–11, 25–16, 25–20) Okazaki 27 September2026 Asian Games 20 3–0 (25–18, 25–18, 25–15) 28 September 21 3–2 (22–25, 21–25, 25–21, 25–19, 17–15) 29 September 22 3–2 (25–23, 18–25, 21–25, 25–20, 15–12) 1 October 23 3–0 (25–13, 25–15, 25–11) 2 October 24 3–1 (28–26, 19–25, 25–21, 26–24) 3 OctoberHead coach: Roberto Piazza
Fans
Iranian volleyball has fans across the globe. It is one of the two most popular sports in Iran; stadiums often have attendance far exceeding official capacity. Domestic competitions drew crowds between 1968 and 2010, and the national team's matches—particularly at the Asian and global levels—garner immense public attention.
Friendly Tournaments
Some of the friendly tournaments in which Iranian volleyball participates.
Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner 2012 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner 2015 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner Slovenia Four-Team Volleyball Tournament
Honors
Global World Grand Champions Cup Bronze: 2017 Fourth place: 2013 World League Fourth place: 2014 Olympics Fifth place: 2016
Continental Asian Championship Champion: 2011, 2013, 2019, 2021 Runner-up: 2009, 2015, 2023, 2026 Third place: 2003 Asian Games Champion: 2014, 2018, 2022 , 2026 Runner-up: 1958, 2002, 2010 Third place: 1966 Asian Cup Champion: 2008, 2010, 2016 Runner-up: 2012, 2018 Solidarity Games Champion: 2005, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2025
Regional
Runner-up: 2005 Central Asian Volleyball Champion: 2010, 2023, 2025 Runner-up: 2007, 2022
Friendly Tournaments Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner: Third place: 2022 Fourth place: 2012, 2015 Kazakhstan President's Cup: Winner: 2007, 2011, 2014 Zhejiang International Tournament (China): Winner: 2012 Slovenia International Tournament: Winner: 2011 Fourth place: 2018 Innsbruck International Tournament (Austria): Silver: 2011 International Tournament: Winner: 1977 Turkey Republic Cup: Silver: 1962, 1964 Sheikh Rashid Cup: Winner: 2007 Qatar International Tournament: Third place: 2012
Team
Current squad