Iran at the 1998 FIFA World Cup

Iran qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. This was their second appearance in the World Cup. Iran didn't progress to the knockout stage. The Iranian National Football Team played in Group F with Yugoslavia, the United States and Germany. They defeated the United States in a stunning second goal, ending the game with 2-1 loss.

Iran's first match was played on 14 June 1998, against Yugoslavia, which Iran lost 1–0. Iran won their next 2–1 against the United States with goals from Hamid Estili in the 40th minute and Mehdi Mahdavikia in the 84th minute. This was Iran's first and only World Cup victory.^[1] This game drew some attention due to decades old political tension between the two countries.^[2] Iran's last match was against Germany, which Iran lost 2–0.

Squad

Head coach: Jalal Talebi

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh	25 May 1966	66	Persepolis F.C.
2	MF	Mehdi Mahdavikia	24 July 1977	24	Persepolis F.C.
3	DF	Naeem Saadavi	16 June 1969	8	Persepolis F.C.
4	DF	Mohammad Khakpour	20 February 1969	37	Persepolis F.C.
5	DF	Mohammad Peyravani	20 February 1970	37	Persepolis F.C.
6	MF	Karim Bagheri	20 February 1974	44	Arminia Bielefeld
7	MF	Alireza Mansourian	12 December 1971	33	Esteghlal F.C.
8	MF	Sirous Dinmohammadi	2 July 1970	16	Shahrdari Tabriz F.C.
9	MF	Hamid Reza Estili	1 April 1967	44	Bahman F.C.
10	FW	Ali Daei	21 March 1969	50	Arminia Bielefeld
11	FW	Khodadad Azizi	22 June 1971	27	FC Köln
12	GK	Nima Nakisa	1 May 1975	1	Persepolis F.C.
13	FW	Ali Latifi	20 February 1976	0	Bahman F.C.
14	DF	Nader Mohammadkhani	23 August 1963	16	Poly Acryl F.C.
15	DF	Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi	17 September 1965	29	F.C. Zob Ahan
16	MF	Reza Shahroudi	21 February 1972	34	Persepolis F.C.
17	DF	Javad Zarincheh	23 July 1966	55	Esteghlal F.C.
18	FW	Sattar Hamedani	6 June 1974	3	Bahman F.C.
19	FW	Behnam Seraj	19 June 1971	0	Persepolis F.C.
20	DF	Mehdi Pashazadeh	27 December 1973	4	Esteghlal F.C.
21	MF	Mehrdad Minavand	30 November 1975	23	Persepolis F.C.
22	GK	Parviz Broumand	11 September 1972	0	Esteghlal F.C.

Qualifying

• 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
• 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)

Matches

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
Yugoslavia	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
Iran	3	1	0	2	2	4	-2	3
United States	3	0	0	3	1	5	-4	0

References

1. "This Week in History: Iran-USA, Iran's first & last World Cup win". ISP. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
2. Billingham, Neil. "98: The most politically charged game in World Cup history". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 20 May 2014. External link in |publisher= (help)