Iran men's national volleyball team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Iran

Association	IRIVF
Confederation	AVC
Head coach	Maurício Paes
FIVB ranking	10 (as of September 2014)
Uniforms
Home 　 Away
Summer Olympics
Appearances	2 (First in 2016)
Best result	5th (2016)
World Championship
Appearances	7 (First in 1970)
Best result	6th (2014)
FIVB World Cup
Appearances	4 (First in 1991)
Best result	8th (2015, 2019)
Asian Championship
Appearances	20 (First in 1979)
Best result	(2011, 2013, 2019, 2021)
Website	volleyball.ir

The Iran Men's National Volleyball Team is the official national men's volleyball team of Iran. It is governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Volleyball Federation (I.R.I.V.F.) and takes part in international volleyball competitions.

As of 11 September 2022, Team Melli is considered as the second team in Asia, as it ranks 10th 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 & Funabashi

In its first appearance in the competition since joining the 2013 World League, Iran has been a dominant force in Group 1.

In 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.

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 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. During World War II, Allied forces occupied Iran, and Iranians participated in sports, including volleyball, with soldiers. 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

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Olympic Games record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad		GP	MW	ML	SW	SL
1964	Did not participate or Did not qualify									6	2	4	10	12
1968										Did not participate or Did not qualify
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004										7	4	3	13	11
2008										7	2	5	11	16
2012										7	5	2	16	9
2016	Quarterfinals	5th place	6	2	4	8	12	Squad	7	6	1	18	11
2020	Preliminary round	9th place	5	2	3	9	11	Squad	8	7	1	21	7
2024	Future event								7	1	6	7	19
2028									Future event
2032
Total	2/15		11	4	7	17	23	—	49	27	22	96	85

World Championship

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

World Championship record Qualification record Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL Squad GP MW ML SW SL 1949 Did not participate Did not participate 1952 1956 1960 1962 1966 1970 17th–24th places 21st place 11 4 7 16 24 Squad 1966 Asian Games 1974 Did not participate Did not participate 1978 1982 Did not qualify 1979 Asian Championship 1986 Did not participate Did not participate 1990 Did not qualify 1989 Asian Championship 1994 4 1 3 3 9 1998 First round 19th place 3 0 3 0 9 Squad 2 1 1 3 4 2002 Did not participate Did not participate 2006 First round 21st place 5 0 5 2 15 Squad 3 3 0 9 0 2010 First round 19th place 3 1 2 5 7 Squad 6 5 1 16 7 2014 5th place match 6th place 12 7 5 26 21 Squad 3 3 0 9 0 2018 Second round 13th place 8 4 4 14 16 Squad 4 4 0 12 0 2022 Round of 16 13th place 4 2 2 7 9 Squad 2021 Asian Championship 2025 Qualified 2023 Asian Championship 2027 Future event Future event Total 7/20 46 18 28 70 101 — 22 17 5 52 20

World Cup

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

World Cup record (Defunct)
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1965	Did not participate
1969
1977
1981
1985
1989	Did not qualify
1991	7th–12th places	11th place	8	1	7	5	23	Squad
1995	Did not qualify
1999
2003
2007
2011	Round-robin	9th place	11	5	6	16	25	Squad
2015	Round-robin	8th place	11	4	7	16	24	Squad
2019	Round-robin	8th place	11	4	7	19	25	Squad
2023	Did not qualify
Total	4/15		41	14	27	56	97	—

World Grand Champions Cup

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

World Grand Champions record (Defunct)
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1993	Did not qualify
1997
2001
2005
2009	Round-robin	5th place	5	1	4	8	14	Squad
2013	Round-robin	4th place	5	3	2	10	10	Squad
2017	Round-robin	3rd place	5	4	1	12	10	Squad
Total	3/7		15	8	7	30	34	—

World League

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

World League record (Defunct)										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad		GP	MW	ML	SW	SL
1990	Did not participate									Did not participate
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010	Did not qualify									2	0	2	0	6
2011										World Ranking
2012										1	0	1	1	3
2013	Intercontinental round	9th place	10	5	5	20	21	Squad		4	4	0	12	1
2014	3rd place match	4th place	16	7	9	28	32	Squad		Directly qualified
2015	Intercontinental round	7th place	12	6	6	25	21	Squad
2016	Intercontinental round	8th place	9	4	5	15	22	Squad
2017	Intercontinental round	11th place	9	3	6	11	23	Squad
Total	5/28		56	25	31	99	119	56		7	4	3	13	10

Nations League

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Nations League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2018	Preliminary round	10th place	15	7	8	29	30	Squad
2019	Final round pool play	5th place	17	12	5	41	21	Squad
2021	Preliminary round	12th place	15	5	10	25	32	Squad
2022	Quarterfinals	7th place	13	7	6	24	22	Squad
2023	Preliminary round	14th place	12	2	10	16	31	Squad
2024	Qualified
Total	5/5		72	33	39	135	136	—

Asian Championship

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Asian Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1975	Did not participate
1979	Classification 5th–8th	6th place	6	3	3	12	10	Squad
1983	Did not participate
1987	9th place match	10th place	7	4	3	13	12	Squad
1989	7th place match	8th place	8	3	5	11	15	Squad
1991	7th place match	7th place	7	3	4	11	14	Squad
1993	5th place match	5th place	7	4	3	12	11	Squad
1995	Championship	4th place	7	4	3	12	13	Squad
1997	Classification 5th–8th	6th place	5	2	3	8	11	Squad
1999	Classification 5th–8th	5th place	6	4	2	13	10	Squad
2001	5th place match	5th place	6	4	2	14	10	Squad
2003	Championship	3rd place	7	5	2	16	12	Squad
2005	5th place match	6th place	5	3	2	12	10	Squad
2007	Championship	5th place	9	5	4	17	18	Squad
2009	Final	Runners-up	8	7	1	22	10	Squad
2011	Final	Champions	8	8	0	24	2	Squad
2013	Final	Champions	7	7	0	21	1	Squad
2015	Final	Runners-up	8	6	2	20	9	Squad
2017	5th place match	5th place	8	6	2	20	10	Squad
2019	Final	Champions	8	7	1	22	4	Squad
2021	Final	Champions	7	7	0	21	1	Squad
2023	Final	Runners-up	5	4	1	12	4	Squad
Total	4 Titles	20/22	139	96	43	313	187	—

Asian Games

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Asian Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
1958	Round-robin	Runners-up	4	3	1	9	6	Squad
1962	Did not participate
1966	Final round	3rd place	8	5	3	16	14	Squad
1970	Round-robin	5th place	7	3	4	11	14	Squad
1974	3rd place match	4th place	5	2	3	7	9	Squad
1978	Did not participate
1982
1986
1990
1994	5th place match	5th place	9	5	4	16	16	Squad
1998	Did not participate
2002	Final	Runners-up	6	4	2	12	10	Squad
2006	5th place match	6th place	3	1	2	6	7	Squad
2010	Final	Runners-up	9	8	1	25	4	Squad
2014	Final	Champions	8	8	0	24	2	Squad
2018	Final	Champions	5	5	0	15	0	Squad
2022	Final	Champions	5	5	0	15	2	Squad
2026	Future event
2030
2034
Total	3 Titles	11/17	69	49	20	156	84	—

Asian Cup

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Asian Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2008	Final	Champions	6	5	1	16	8	Squad
2010	Final	Champions	6	6	0	18	6	Squad
2012	Final	Runners-up	6	5	1	16	7	Squad
2014	3rd place match	4th place	6	4	2	14	9	Squad
2016	Final	Champions	6	6	0	18	5	Squad
2018	Final	Runners-up	5	4	1	14	5	Squad
2022	5th place match	5th place	5	3	2	11	8	Squad
Total	3 Titles	7/7	40	33	7	107	48	—

Other tournaments

Islamic Solidarity Games

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Islamic Solidarity Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2005	Final	Champions	8	8	0	24	3	Squad
2013	Final	Champions	6	6	0	18	2	Squad
2017	Final	Champions	6	6	0	18	3	Squad
2021	Final	Champions	5	4	1	14	4	Squad
2025	Future event
Total	4 Titles	4/4	25	24	1	74	12	—

West Asian Games

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

West Asian Games record (Defunct)
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2005	Round-robin	Runners-up	5	4	1	14	4	Squad
Total	1/1		5	4	1	14	4	—

Central Asian Championship

• 2007 – 2 Runners-up
• 2010 – 1 Champions
• 2022 – 2 Runners-up
• 2023 – 1 Champions

Results and fixtures

Date	Location	Competition	Opponent	Result
2024
22 May	Brazil	2024 Nations League	SER
24 May	Brazil	2024 Nations League	ITA
25 May	Brazil	2024 Nations League	CUB
26 May	Brazil	2024 Nations League	ARG
4 Jun	Japan	2024 Nations League	JPN
6 Jun	Japan	2024 Nations League	BRA
7 Jun	Japan	2024 Nations League	BUL
8 Jun	Japan	2024 Nations League	TUR
19 Jun	Philippines	2024 Nations League	USA
20 Jun	Philippines	2024 Nations League	NED
21 Jun	Philippines	2024 Nations League	FRA
23 Jun	Philippines	2024 Nations League	GER

Team

Current squad

Representing Iran at the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship.

• Head coach: Behrouz Ataei

No.	Name	Date of birth	Height	Weight	Spike	Block	2023 club
01 1	Mahdi Jelveh	21 May 2001	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	390 cm (150 in)	345 cm (136 in)	Fenerbahçe
02 2	Milad Ebadipour (C)	17 October 1993	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	358 cm (141 in)	340 cm (130 in)	Ural Ufa
05 5	Amir Hossein Toukhteh	9 April 2001	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	373 cm (147 in)	354 cm (139 in)	Haraz Amol
07 7	Shahrooz Homayonfarmanesh	18 December 1989	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	325 cm (128 in)	320 cm (130 in)
08 8	Mohammad Reza Hazratpour	31 March 1999	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	300 cm (120 in)	290 cm (110 in)
08 8	Mohammad Reza Moazzen	20 September 1991	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	292 cm (115 in)	281 cm (111 in)
11 11	Saber Kazemi	24 December 1998	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	360 cm (140 in)	347 cm (137 in)	Al Arabi
12 12	Amir Hossein Esfandiar	24 January 1999	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	355 cm (140 in)	348 cm (137 in)	PGE Skra Bełchatów
14 14	Mohammadjavad Manavinezhad	27 November 1995	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	94 kg (207 lb)	340 cm (130 in)	320 cm (130 in)	Stade Poitevin
15 15	Aliasghar Mojarad	30 October 1997	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	330 cm (130 in)	310 cm (120 in)	CS Rapid București
17 17	Amin Esmaeilnejad	17 December 1996	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	365 cm (144 in)	344 cm (135 in)	BluVolley Verona
18 18	Mohammad Taher Vadi	10 October 1989	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	72 kg (159 lb)	329 cm (130 in)	315 cm (124 in)	[[Volley Lube (Volleyball)|Volley Lube]]
24 24	Javad Karimi	1 March 1998	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	330 cm (130 in)	310 cm (120 in)	Warta Zawiercie
49 49	Morteza Sharifi	27 May 1999	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	83 kg (183 lb)	340 cm (130 in)	320 cm (130 in)	Galatasaray S.K.

Head coaches

Note: The following list may not be complete.

Iran volleyball team members June 2015

A Team

Name	From	To	notes
Sardar Nasrollahkhan	1958		1958 Asian Games Runners-up
Fereydoon Sharifzadeh	1958	1963
Hossein Jabbarzadegan	1964	1966	1966 Asian Games 3rd place
Miloslav Ejem	1970	1972
Tadaee Korada	1974		1974 Asian Games 4th place
Park Sung	1979
Yadollah Kargarpisheh	1979	1981
Farough Fakhredini	1987
Masoud Salehieh	1987	1989
Hossein Ali Mehranpour	1989	1991
Mohammad Heidarkhan	1991
Bugajenkovs, IvansIvans Bugajenkovs	1991	1993	Acted as head coach from 1991 to 1993 and as the general technical manager of all age groups from 1991 to 2007.
Fumihiko Matsumoto	1994
Masoud Salehieh	1995		1995 Asian Championship 4th place
Mehdi Saberpour	1997
Fumihiko Matsumoto	1998
Mostafa Karkhaneh	1999	2001
Hossein Ali Mehranpour	2001
Ki-won, ParkPark Ki-won	2002	2005	2002 Asian Games Runners-up 2003 Asian Championship 3rd place
Milorad Kijac	2006
Gajić, ZoranZoran Gajić	2007	2008
Maadani, HosseinHossein Maadani	2008	2010	2008 Asian Cup Champions 2009 Asian Championship Runners-up 2010 Asian Cup Champions 2010 Asian Games Runners-up
Velasco, JulioJulio Velasco	2011	2014	2011 Asian Championship Champions 2013 Asian Championship Champions 2013 World Grand Champions Cup 4th place
Kovač, SlobodanSlobodan Kovač	2014	2015	2014 World League 4th place 2014 World Championship 6th place 2014 Asian Games Champions
Lozano, RaúlRaúl Lozano	2016		2016 Olympic Games 5th place
Kolaković, IgorIgor Kolaković	2017	2020	2017 World Grand Champions Cup 3rd place 2018 Asian Games Champions 2019 Nations League 5th place 2019 Asian Championship Champions 2020 Olympic Games Qualification
Alekno, VladimirVladimir Alekno	2020	2021	2020 Olympic Games 9th place
Ataei, BehrouzBehrouz Ataei	2021	2023	2021 Asian Championship Champions 2023 Asian Championship Runners-up 2022 Asian Games Champions
Paes, MaurícioMaurício Paes	2024	present

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Behrouz Ataei
Assistant Coach	Alireza Tolookian Paweł Woicki
Analyzer	Hossein Khouriani
Fitness Trainer	Janas Wojciech
Doctor	Reza Gholipour
U19 Coach	Mohammad Vakili
Team Manager	Akbar Mohammadi

B Team

Name	From–To	notes
Peyman Akbari	2010	2010 Central Asian Zone Championship Champions
Mohammad Vakili	2012	2012 Asian Cup Runners-up
Maadani, HosseinHossein Maadani	2013	2013 Islamic Solidarity Games Champions
Peyman Akbari	2014–2015	2014 Asian Cup 4th place 2015 Asian Championship Runners-up
Nasser Shahnazi	2016	2016 Asian Cup Champions
Juan Manuel Cichello	2017
Behrouz Ataei	2018	2018 Asian Cup Runners-up
Azim Jazideh	2022	2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Champions

Stadium

Azadi indoor stadium with Iranian fans

Rezazadeh Stadium in 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League

The team's home arena are Azadi Indoor Stadium, Azadi Volleyball Hall, Rezazadeh Stadium and Ghadir Stadium.

Kit providers

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Iran national volleyball team.

Sponsorship

Primary sponsors include: main sponsors like MCI and Tourism Bank, Refah Stores other sponsors: Roamer.

See also

In Spanish: Selección de voleibol de Irán para niños