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The Iran national football team represents Iran in international Football competitions and is controlled by the Islamic Republic Of Iran Football Federation . The Iranian national football team is known as ''Team Melli''. It is one of the strongest teams in Asia , the second highest ranking Asian team in FIFA 's latest World Rankings. As of August 2007, Iran is ranked 44 in the FIFA World Rankings , and 23 in the World Football Elo Ratings . Iran was, at its peak, ranked 15th in both FIFA and Elo world rankings. HISTORY Iran have won the Asian Cup three consecutive times ( 1968 , 1972 , 1976 ) and have finished third four times. In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup and lost two of their three group stage games against the Netherlands and Peru . However, they managed to create a surprise by drawing 1-1 against Scotland with a late Iraj Danaeifard goal. After the 1979 Revolution , football was somewhat neglected and cast aside during the mid 1980s due to internal unrest and the Iran-Iraq War although rumors saying that Iran didn't play Football during that time are untrue. Football managed to make its revival in the early 1990s with new talents like Ali Daei , Mehdi Mahdavikia , Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri . In November 1997, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup after eliminating Australia in a close playoff series. Both games finished undecided, but Iran managed to qualify due to the Away Goals Rule . Iran held Australia to a 1-1 draw at home, and a 2-2 draw in Melbourne ; however, since Iran had scored more away goals, they were able to qualify for the Cup. Iran also recorded their first World Cup victory in that tournament, beating the United States 2-1. The Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement because of each country's political stance after the Iranian Revolution . However, in an act of defiance against all forms of hatred or politics in sports, both sides presented one another with gifts and flowers and took ceremonial pictures before the match kickoff. On June 8 , 2005 , Iran together with Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2006 World Cup , making it Iran's 3rd appearance on the world stage of football. The qualification round both in 2001 and 2004-05 resulted in mass celebrations, hysteria and rioting, causing internal chaos and unrest between youth and government officials. The Iran versus Japan leg of the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers in Tehran was the highest attended qualifying match among all confederations. In November 2006, Iran was suspended by FIFA from all participation in international football, on the grounds of governmental interference in the national football association.1 The ban lasted less than a month, 2 and as a dispensation was given to allow the Iran Under-23 Team to participate in the Football Competition of the 2006 Asian Games , 3 fixtures were unaffected. STADIUM Iran play their home games in the massive Azadi (Freedom) Stadium which was built in the mid 1970s with a capacity of over 100,000. A Record was set in Azadi for the home match of the World Cup Qualifying campaign against Japan, where the whole stadium was filled. KIT Iran's current jersey is provided by Puma . Iran's previous jersey was manufactured by Ali Daei 's company Daei Sport's Wears & Equipments TOURNAMENT RECORDS World Cup record Olympic Games record
Asian Cup record
Asian Games record
West Asian Football Federation Championship record ECO Cup (RCD Cup 1965-1974 & ECO Cup in 1993) record LAST AND NEXT GAMES June 20 , 2007 , Amman , Jordan - 2 - 0 2007 West Asian Championship June 22 , 2007 , Amman , Jordan - 0 - 1 2007 West Asian Championship June 24 , 2007 , Amman , Jordan - 2 - 1 2007 West Asian Championship July 2 , 2007 , Tehran , Iran - 8 - 1 Friendly July 11 , 2007 , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia - 2 - 1 Asian Cup 2007 July 15 , 2007 , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia - 2 - 2 Asian Cup 2007 July 18 , 2007 , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia - 0 - 2 Asian Cup 2007 July 22 , 2007 , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia - 0 - 0 (2 - 4 on penalties) Asian Cup 2007 MANAGERS PLAYERS Current squad Goalkeepers Midfielders Forwards Previous squads Most capped players As Of July 22, 2007 , the players with the most Caps for Iran are:
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