History of the Iran national football team began with the team's first international match on 23 August 1941. The Iranian Football Federation was founded in 1920.[1]
The first match that Team Melli played was on 23 August 1941, away at Kabul in a 1–0 win against British India, while Iran's first FIFA international match was on 25 August 1941, away at Afghanistan.[2] Iran won the Asian Cup three consecutive times (1968, 1972, 1976), to which the team has not been able to add since.
Файл:Iran Football 78WC.jpgIran's squad playing in '78 World Cup match against Scotland in Cordoba, Estadio Cordoba, Argentina on 7 June 1978 (16:45)
In 1978, Iran made its first appearance in the World Cup after defeating Australia in Tehran. Iran lost two of three group stage matches against the Netherlands and Peru.[3] Team Melli managed to surprise the footballing community[4] by securing one point in its first ever World Cup appearance against Scotland which saw Iraj Danaeifard cancel out an own goal scored by Andranik Eskandarian for the 1–1 draw.[5]
