Saeid Ezatolahi facts for kids
Ezatolahi training with Iran in 2018
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Saeid Ezatolahi Afagh | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 1 October 1996 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bandar-e Anzali, Iran | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||
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Current team
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Shabab Al Ahli | ||||||||||||
| Number | 66 | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Shahrdari Bandar Anzali | ||||||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Malavan | ||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Atlético Madrid | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Malavan | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Atlético Madrid C | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2015–2020 | Rostov | 18 | (2) | ||||||||||
| 2017 | → Anzhi Makhachkala (loan) | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | → Amkar Perm (loan) | 16 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | → Reading (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | → Eupen (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | Vejle | 73 | (8) | ||||||||||
| 2022 | → Al-Gharafa (loan) | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2024– | Shabab Al Ahli | 32 | (8) | ||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Iran U17 | 33 | (10) | ||||||||||
| 2014 | Iran U20 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 2015– | Iran | 77 | (1) | ||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 June 2025 |
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Saeid Ezatolahi Afagh (Persian: سعید عزتاللهی آفاق; born October 1, 1996) is a professional footballer from Iran. He plays as a defensive midfielder for the club Shabab Al Ahli in the UAE Pro League. He also plays for the Iran national team.
Saeid started his football journey at a young age. He joined the Malavan youth academy and quickly showed his talent. He made his first team debut in 2012. At just 16 years old, he became the youngest player ever in the Iran Pro League. Saeid has received awards, including the "Young Player of the Year" in Iran. In 2014, he was even named one of the most talented young football players in the world.
He also made history for the Iran national football team. On November 12, 2015, he scored a goal against Turkmenistan. This made him the youngest goalscorer for the Iranian national team. He was 19 years and 42 days old at the time. This record was later broken by another player in 2019.
Contents
Saeid's Football Journey
Starting Out in Iran
Saeid's family has a history in football. His father, Nader, and uncle Ghader Ezatolahi, both played for Malavan. Saeid began his own career with Shahrdari Bandar Anzali in 2008 as a youth player.
Playing for Malavan
In the summer of 2010, Saeid moved to the Malavan youth academy. By July 2012, he was promoted to the main team.
On October 26, 2012, Ezatolahi played his first game for Malavan. He came in as a substitute against Rah Ahan. This was just 25 days after his 16th birthday. It made him the youngest player in the history of the Iran Pro League. At the end of that season, he won the "Young Player of the Year" award.
In the 2013–14 season, he became a regular starter. After playing well in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, some European clubs became interested in him.
Moving to Spain: Atlético Madrid
On August 27, 2014, Saeid signed a one-year contract with the Spanish club Atlético Madrid. He played for their youth team, Atlético Madrid, in the 2014–15 season. He scored his first goal for them in a 3–1 win against UDC Sur. He also played in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League, which is a competition for youth teams of top European clubs.
In April 2015, Saeid even got to practice with the senior Atlético Madrid team. Their famous manager, Diego Simeone, was there. Soon after, he made his debut for Atlético Madrid C, which is a lower-level team for the club.
Playing in Russia: FC Rostov
After his time in Spain, Saeid joined Russian Premier League club Rostov on July 21, 2015. He signed a four-year contract. He made his first team debut for Rostov on May 12, 2016, in a 3–1 win.
Champions League Goal
On July 26, 2016, Saeid made his first start for Rostov in a big game. It was a UEFA Champions League qualifying match against R.S.C. Anderlecht. He scored a goal in the 16th minute, making the score 1–1. This made him the first player to score for Rostov in a European match. He also became the youngest Iranian player ever to score in the Champions League.
He scored his first goal in the Russian Premier League for Rostov on August 20, 2016. It was in a 3–0 victory.
Loan Spells in Russia and England
In February 2017, Saeid was loaned to another Russian club, Anzhi Makhachkala, for six months. He then went on loan to FC Amkar Perm until the end of the 2017–18 season.
On August 31, 2018, Saeid moved to England. He joined Reading on a loan deal for the season. He played well in his first few games. However, an injury unfortunately ended his season early.
In August 2019, he went on loan again, this time to the Belgian club Eupen. After these loan spells, his contract with Rostov ended in June 2020.
Vejle and Al-Gharafa
On August 20, 2020, Saeid signed a three-year contract with Vejle Boldklub, a club in the Danish Superliga. He played many games for Vejle.
In January 2022, he was loaned to Al-Gharafa, a club in Qatar, for six months.
Shabab Al Ahli
Since 2024, Saeid has been playing for Shabab Al Ahli in the UAE Pro League. He has continued to be a key player for his team.
Playing for Iran
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Youth National Teams
Saeid played for the Iran U17 national team in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He played in all the group matches and the round of 16.
He was also part of the Iran U20 team. He scored his first goal for them against the United Arab Emirates.
Senior National Team
Saeid was called up to the Iran senior national team in May 2015. He made his debut on June 11, 2015, in a 1–0 win against Uzbekistan.
As mentioned earlier, he scored his first goal for the senior team on November 12, 2015. This made him the youngest goalscorer for Iran at the time.
In May 2018, he was chosen for Iran's team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He missed the first group match but played in the other two games against Spain and Portugal. He was unable to play in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup due to an injury.
Life Outside Football
Saeid's father, Nader Ezatolahi, is a football coach at the Malavan Academy. He also works as Saeid's agent.
In 2019, Saeid released a rap song. He made the song to support the Iranian team during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. He was injured and could not be with the team at the time.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals! | ||
| Malavan | 2012–13 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||||
| Atlético Madrid C | 2014–15 | Tercera División | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Rostov | 2015–16 | Russian Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 2 | ||||
| Anzhi (loan) | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |||||
| Rostov | 2017–18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Amkar Perm (loan) | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 36 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | 45 | 3 | |||
| Reading (loan) | 2018–19 | EFL Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| Eupen (loan) | 2019–20 | Belgian First Division A | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| Vejle | 2020–21 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | 32 | 4 | |||
| 2021–22 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 2 | ||||||
| Al-Gharafa (loan) | 2021–22 | Qatar Stars League | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| Vejle | 2022–23 | Danish First Division | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Danish Superliga | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |||
| Shabab Al Ahli | 2023–24 | UAE Pro League | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 2 | ||
| 2024–25 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 7 | ||
| Career total | 176 | 18 | 26 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 228 | 21 | ||
International Appearances and Goals
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iran | 2015 | 4 | 1 |
| 2016 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 16 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 77 | 1 | |
- Scores and results list Iran's goal tally. First, the score column indicates the score after each Ezatolahi goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 November 2015 | Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran |  Turkmenistan |
2–1 | 3–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Awards and Achievements
Saeid Ezatolahi has won several awards and titles throughout his career:
With Vejle
- Danish 1st Division: 2022–23
With Shabab Al Ahli
- UAE Pro League: 2024–25
- UAE Super Cup: 2024
- Qatar–UAE Challenge Shield: 2025
Individual Awards
- Iranian Young Player of the Year: 2012–13
- AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2023
See also
In Spanish: Saeid Ezatolahi para niños
