Mehdi Taremi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mehdi Taremi
	Taremi with Iran at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
Personal information
Full name	Mehdi Taremi
Date of birth	18 July 1992 (age 29)
Place of birth	Bushehr, Iran
Height	1.87 m
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Porto
Number	9
Youth career
2002–2006	Bargh Bushehr
2006–2010	Iranjavan
Senior career*
National team‡
	Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:50, 20 May 2021 (UTC).; ; † Appearances (Goals).; ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 June 2021 (UTC)

Mehdi Taremi (Persian: مِهدی طارمی; born 18 July 1992) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Primeira Liga club FC Porto and the Iran national team.

Taremi played for Persepolis between 2014 and 2018. He has been the top scorer of the Persian Gulf Pro League on two occasions (2015–16 and 2016–17). He also won Primeira Liga joint top scorer in 2019–20. Taremi made his first appearance for the Iran national team in 2015.

Club career

Early career

Taremi started his career with Bargh Bushehr's Academy before moving on to Iranjavan's Youth Academy.

Shahin Bushehr

He joined Shahin Bushehr in the summer of 2010. He played 7 games and scored one goal in all competitions. In the winter of 2012, he was released by Shahin Bushehr to spend his conscription period in a military club, but he failed to join a club and was forced to spend his conscription period in a usual garrison.

Iranjavan

He joined Iranjavan in the summer of 2013 and signed a two-year contract until the end of the 2014–15 season and was given the number 9. Taremi scored 12 times in 22 matches in 2013–14, and became the league's second top scorer after Mokhtar Jomehzadeh.

Persepolis

Taremi in Persepolis training.

After becoming the Azadegan League's top scorer, Taremi had offers from many teams. He joined Persepolis FC in the summer of 2014 and signed a two-year contract through June 2016.

2014–15

He made his debut in 1–1 draw with Naft Tehran, coming as a substitute for Reza Norouzi in 90th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 August 2014 in a 1–0 victory over Zob Ahan. On 8 April 2015 Taremi scored a penalty in Persepolis 1–0 win in the Asian Champions League over Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. He scored many goals for the club, and provided quality assists to win the Best Striker Award of the 14th Persian Gulf Pro League at the end of the 2014–15 season.

2015–16

Taremi playing for Persepolis in Tehran derby.

Taremi missed the first week of the new season due to suspension, but in his first game back on 6 August 2015, he scored in a 2–1 loss to Esteghlal Khuzestan. Taremi scored twice in a 2–0 week five win against Foolad. This was Persepolis' first win of the season and lifted them out of the relegation spot. Taremi's good performances in the month of August earned him the Navad player of the month as voted by fans. On 18 December 2015 Taremi scored a brace against Rah Ahan in Persepolis' 2–0 victory. He ended the first half of the league as top scorer with 9 goals in 12 games.

On 4 April 2016 Taremi scored a brace in a 3–2 victory against Siah Jamegan to keep Persepolis in third place. On 12 April 2016 Taremi was in talks to extend his contract to the end of the 2017–18 season. But, eventually he decided not to renew his contract. On 15 April 2016 Taremi scored a brace in Persepolis' historic 4–2 victory over Esteghlal in the Tehran derby. He became the league's top scorer with 16 goals at the end of the season, despite his good performance his team failed to win the title at the last week.

2016–17

Before the start of the new season, Taremi announced that he would not extend his contract, to join to a European team. In July 2016, it was reported that Taremi was linked to Süper Lig team Çaykur Rizespor. The move was cancelled after Taremi returned to Iran and signed a two-year contract with Persepolis. He played his first match for Persepolis in 1–0 win over Saipa, replaced Omid Alishah in 77th minute. He also scored his first goal of the season in week 4 against Saba Qom. He scored a brace in 3–1 away win over Sepahan, in a match known as Iran's El Clasico. At the end of the season, the club celebrated its 10th Iran Pro League title, and Taremi became top scorer for a second consecutive season with 18 goals.

On 8 May 2017, Taremi scored a decisive hat trick against Emirati side Al Wahda in a 4–2 win to help his team qualify for the Round of 16 of the 2017 AFC Champions League. After his good performances, Taremi was linked with Dinamo Zagreb.

2017–18

Taremi playing for Al-Gharafa

He playing 7 games, scoring 4 goals, and during the 2017–18 season, Taremi was banned for four months because of a contract dispute with Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor dating back to June 2016, when the player reached an agreement to join the club and later returned to Persepolis. Persepolis were also banned from signing players for two transfer windows. FIFA ruled in favor of the Turkish club and imposed the ban.

Al Gharafa

On 8 January 2018, Taremi signed an 18-month contract with the Qatari club Al-Gharafa. He scored his first goal in the first match of 2018 AFC Champions League against UAE's Al Jazira. Taremi first scored goal in Qatar League against Al Kharaitiyat SC on 16 February. On 19 February, he scored a brace against Iranian side Tractor Sazi on the second matchday of the AFC Champions League.

Rio Ave

On 23 July 2019, Taremi signed a two-year contract with Portuguese football club Rio Ave. Taremi scored a hat-trick in his first Primeira Liga start for the club on 23 August 2019 in a match against C.D. Aves. On 31 August, Taremi won his side three penalties in their match against Sporting CP, all on fouls committed by Sebastián Coates, as Rio Ave won 3–2.

Taremi finished his first season with 18 goals, joint top with S.L. Benfica pair Pizzi and Carlos Vinícius; the latter won the official Bola da Prata trophy for playing the fewest minutes of the three.

Porto

In August 2020, Taremi signed a four-year contract with Portuguese club FC Porto. He scored his first league goal for Porto on 8 November 2020 in a 3–1 home win against Portimonense. There was a foul on Taremi during the 2020 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in December 2020 which gave Porto a penalty and resulted in their first goal of the match scored by Sérgio Oliveira. Porto went on to win the 42nd edition of the competition 2–0, which gave Mehdi Taremi his first European medal. On 17 February 2021, Taremi opened the scoring for Porto against Juventus in the round-of-16 first leg in the UEFA Champions League. He became the first Iranian to score in the first knockout phase of the competition. On 13 April, he scored the game-winning goal with a spectacular bicycle kick in a 1–0 away win over Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals, yet his club lost 1–2 on aggregate. On 4 June UEFA announced Taremi’s goal against Chelsea the Best UCL Goal of that season.

Taremi finished his season with 16 goals and 11 assissts, became the top passer of that season. Also he was in Team of The Season of Primeira Liga.

International career

Youth

Taremi played for Iran student's national football team in Turkey tournament and scored 9 goals for the team. He was called up by Alireza Mansourian to participate in the team's training camp in Kish Island in 2013.

Senior

Taremi celebrating his goal against China in 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Taremi made his debut against Uzbekistan in a friendly match on 11 June 2015. He also came on as a second-half substitute in a World Cup Qualifying match against Turkmenistan on 16 June 2015.

On 3 September 2015, Taremi scored his first senior goals, a brace, in a 6–0 victory over Guam in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. On 23 March 2017, Taremi scored the winning and only goal in Iran's victory against Qatar in the final round of World Cup qualifying. He followed this up with another goal on 28 March 2017, in a decisive 1–0 victory against China. On 12 June 2017, Taremi scored the second goal for Iran in a 2–0 win over Uzbekistan to seal the country's first consecutive qualification to two World Cups. In June 2018, he was named in Iran's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. With the score tied 1–1 in stoppage time in Iran's group stage match with Portugal, Taremi missed a point-blank shot wide left that would have eliminated Portugal and advanced Iran to the round of 16.

Personal life

Taremi is the third and the youngest child of his family. His older brother Mohammad is also a football player.

He was in a relationship with Iranian actress Sahar Ghoreishi for months in 2018. In March 2020, Taremi announced he is in a new relationship and prepares for marriage.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Shahin	2010–11	Iran Pro League	6	1	0	0	—		—		—		6	1
	2011–12	Iran Pro League	2	0	0	0	—		—		—		2	0
	Total		8	1	0	0	—		—		—		8	1
Iranjavan	2012–13	Azadegan League	—		—		—		—		—		—
	2013–14	Azadegan League	22	12	0	0	—		—		—		22	12
	Total		22	12	0	0	—		—		—		22	12
Persepolis	2014–15	Persian Gulf Pro League	26	7	4	0	—		8	1	—		38	8
	2015–16	Persian Gulf Pro League	25	16	2	2	—		—		—		27	18
	2016–17	Persian Gulf Pro League	29	18	0	0	—		8	6	—		37	24
	2017–18	Persian Gulf Pro League	7	4	0	0	—		2	1	1	0	10	5
	Total		87	45	6	2	—		18	8	1	0	112	55
Al-Gharafa	2017–18	Qatar Stars League	8	5	2	0	0	0	7	5	1	1	18	11
	2018–19	Qatar Stars League	22	8	2	2	0	0	1	1	—		25	11
	Total		30	13	4	2	0	0	8	6	1	1	43	22
Rio Ave	2019–20	Primeira Liga	30	18	4	2	3	1	—		—		37	21
Porto	2020–21	Primeira Liga	34	16	6	5	1	0	6	2	1	0	48	23
Career total			211	105	20	11	4	1	32	16	3	1	270	134

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Iran	2015	7	5
	2016	9	2
	2017	7	3
	2018	12	3
	2019	10	8
	2020	1	1
	2021	4	2
Total		50	24

Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Taremi goal.

List of international goals scored by Mehdi Taremi
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 September 2015	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	3	Guam	2–0	6–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	3 September 2015	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	3	Guam	5–0	6–0
3	8 September 2015	Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore, India	4	India	3–0	3–0
4	17 November 2015	Guam National Football Stadium, Tamuning, Guam	7	Guam	1–0	6–0
5	17 November 2015	Guam National Football Stadium, Tamuning, Guam	7	Guam	6–0	6–0
6	7 June 2016	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	11	Kyrgyzstan	2–0	6–0	Friendly
7	10 November 2016	Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia	15	Papua New Guinea	2–0	8–1	Friendly
8	23 March 2017	Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	17	Qatar	1–0	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	28 March 2017	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	18	China PR	1–0	1–0
10	12 June 2017	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	19	Uzbekistan	2–0	2–0
11	27 March 2018	UCP Arena, Graz, Austria	25	Algeria	2–0	2–1	Friendly
12	24 December 2018	Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar	34	[[Palestinian National Authority {{{altlink}}}\|Palestinian National Authority]]	1–0	1–1
13	31 December 2018	Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar	35	Qatar	1–0	2–1
14	7 January 2019	Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	36	Yemen	1–0	5–0	2019 AFC Asian Cup
15	3–0	Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	36	Yemen		5–0	2019 AFC Asian Cup
16	24 January 2019	Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	40	China PR	1–0	3–0	2019 AFC Asian Cup
17	3 June 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	41	Syria	2–0	5–0	Friendly
18					3–0
19					4–0
20	10 October 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	43	Cambodia	4–0	14–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
21	10 October 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	43	Cambodia	9–0	14–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
22	8 October 2020	Pakhtakor Central Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan	46	Uzbekistan	2–0	2–1	Friendly
23	7 June 2021	Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain	49	Bahrain	3–0	3–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
24	11 June 2021	Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain	50	Cambodia	3–0	10–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification