The 2025–26 Persian Gulf Pro League was the 43nd season of Iran's Football League and 25th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001.
The season started on 18 August 2025 and was originally scheduled to end on 15 May 2026, but the league has been suspended due to the 2026 Iran war. The league is expected to resume after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but was eventually abandoned.
Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of sixteen teams contest the league, including fourteen sides from the 2024–25 season and two promoted from the 2024–25 Azadegan League. This includes the two top teams from the Azadegan League. Fajr Sepasi and Paykan. They replaced Nassaji and Havadar.
Promoted from2024–25 Azadegan League Relegated from2024–25 Persian Gulf Pro League Fajr SepasiPaykan NassajiHavadar
Stadiums and locations
TeamLocationStadiumCapacityAluminiumArakImam Khomeini15,000ChadormalouArdakanShahid Nassiri15,000EsteghlalTehranAzadi78,116Esteghlal KhuzestanAhvazTakhti10,000Fajr Sepasi ShirazShirazPars50,000FooladAhvazFoolad Arena30,655Gol GoharSirjanShahid Qasem Soleimani9,000KheybarKhorramabadTakhti Khorramabad8,000MalavanBandar-e AnzaliSirous Ghayeghran9,000Mes RafsanjanRafsanjanShohadaye Mes10,000PaykanTehranShohadaye Shahr-e Qods Stadium8,000PersepolisTehranAzadi78,116SepahanIsfahanNaghsh-e-Jahan75,000Shams AzarQazvinSardar Azadegan15,000TractorTabrizYadegar-e Emam66,833Zob AhanFooladshahrFooladshahr20,000
Personnel and kits Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Main kit sponsor 1. On the back of shirt. 2. On the sleeves. 3. On the shorts.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in the tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentZob Ahan Mohammad RabieiMutual consent17 May 2025Pre-season Ghasem Haddadifar17 May 2025Kheybar Saeid Daghighi23 May 2025 Mohammad Rabiei23 May 2025Paykan Sirous Dinmohammadi29 May 2025 Saeid Daghighi29 May 2025Esteghlal Mojtaba JabbariInterim18 June 2025 Ricardo Sá Pinto18 June 2025Mes Rafsanjan Sirous PourmousaviDisagreement1 June 2025 Rasoul Khatibi21 July 2025Sepahan Patrice CarteronResigned25 June 2025 Moharram Navidkia29 June 2025Kheybar Mohammad Rabiei30 June 2025 Mehdi Rahmati8 July 2025Persepolis İsmail Kartal1 July 2025 Vahid Hashemian4 July 2025Shams Azar Mehdi Rahmati3 July 2025 Vahid Rezaei3 July 2025Persepolis Vahid HashemianSacked25 October 20257th Osmar Loss28 October 2025Mes Rafsanjan Rasoul Khatibi4 December 202516th Mojtaba Jabbari7 December 2025Esteghlal Ricardo Sá Pinto20 February 2026 Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh22 February 2026
Foreign players
The number of foreign players is increased to eight per Persian Gulf Pro League team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team. Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 AFC player Former players Aluminium Chadormalou Edson Mardden Vitão Renny Simisterra Segundo Portocarrero Mario Otazú Diego Torres Mauro Caballero Esteghlal Jasir Asani Duckens Nazon Moussa Djenepo Munir El Haddadi Antonio Adan Jaloliddin Masharipov Rustam Ashurmatov Didier Ndong Esteghlal Khuzestan Fajr Sepasi Foolad Gustavo Blanco Matheus Costa Utkir Yusupov Gol Gohar Marcos Miranda Eric Bocoum Jeremie Obounet Nemanja Tomašević Amadoni Kamolov Kheybar Malavan Mes Rafsanjan Mirzad Mehanović Stefan Ashkovski Lee Ki-je Matheus Costa Numan Kurdić Paykan Persepolis Thievy Bifouma Dániel Gera Marko Bakić Igor Sergeev Oston Urunov Serge Aurier Sepahan Enzo Crivelli Giorgi Gvelesiani Ricardo Alves Iván Sánchez Vahdat Hanonov Shams Azar Tractor Regi Lushkja Domagoj Drožđek Igor Postonjski Tibor Halilović Tomislav Štrkalj Aleksandar Sedlar Marko Johansson Odiljon Hamrobekov Zob Ahan Dženan Zajmović
League table The league has been suspended due to the 2026 Iran war. As the league can only continue after the cut-off date for the 2026–27 AFC Club Competitions at June 30, the standings at the time of suspension will determine the clubs qualified for the Champions League Elite and Champions League Two.
Results
Asia play-offs
Bracket
Semi-final
Final
Promotion/relegation play-off
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
Season statistics
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Amirhossein HosseinzadehTractor112 Ehsan MahroughiFoolad93 Jasir AsaniEsteghlal7 Renny SimisterraChadormalou Hooman RabizadehShams Azar6 Domagoj DrožđekTractor6 Ali AlipourPersepolis Hadi HabibinejadChadormalou Mehdi SharifiMes Rafsanjan / Fajr Sepasi10 Mehrdad GhanbariKheybar5 Amirhossein JalalivandEsteghlal Khuzestan Mehdi TikdariGol Gohar
Hat-tricks PlayerForAgainstResultDate Domagoj Drožđek Tractor Aluminium 4–1 (H) Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh Tractor Gol Gohar 5–0 (A)
Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Ali AlipourPersepolis6 Reza MahmoudabadiChadormalou3 Ramin RezaeianEsteghlal / Foolad4 Abolfazl RazzaghpourFoolad Alireza KoushkiEsteghlal Mehdi TorabiTractor Mehdi HashemnejadTractor Amirhossein HosseinzadehTractor9 Milad MohammadiPersepolis3 Ehsan HajsafiSepahan Danial EsmaeilifarTractor Farshid EsmaeiliFajr Sepasi Hadi HabibinejadChadormalou Amirhossein JeddiZob Ahan Sina AsadbeigiFoolad Mehrdad GhanbariKheybar Majid EydiGol Gohar Munir El HaddadiEsteghlal
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Alireza BeiranvandTractor11 Alireza JafarpourShams Azar Farzad TayebipourMalavan4 Payam NiazmandPersepolis10 Farzin GarousianGol Gohar Edson MarddenChadormalou7 Hossein HosseiniSepahan8 Mohammad KhalifehAluminium Hamed LakFoolad10 Mohammad Javad KiaEsteghlal Khuzestan7
References