Iran women's national football team

The Iran women's national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, represents Iran in international women's football around the world, and is controlled by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). The Iran women's team played its first international match in September 2005 against Syria.

Early years
The first Iranian women's national team was established by Taj Tehran Football Club. The Iranian women's national team has a long history, with a women's Perspolis FC team dating back to 1976.

Refounded in 2005, Trying to start over
Refounded in 2005, the team reached second place at the 2005 West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship in Amman, Jordan held in September and October 2005.

In May 2006, the women's team hosted their first foreign visitors when a club from Berlin, Germany called BSV Al-Dersimspor played out a 2–2 draw in Ararat Stadium, Tehran.

The team won second place again at the 2007 and 2011 West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship.

2010s
Iran were briefly banned by FIFA from international competition in 2011 for wearing hijabs. This caused Iran to forfeit its bid to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The ban was lifted in 2012.

In 2015 there were reports that eight players on the team were males awaiting sex change operations. On 27 December 2019, Zahra Khajavi broke the clean sheet record of Iranian football by not conceding any goal for 953 minutes. Also, she, along with Alireza Biranvand, are known as the record holders of the longest hand throws in Iranian football. As one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Iranian football, Khajavi was able to once again draw the attention of the domestic media to the Iranian women's national football team. Her achievements played a key role in the progress of the women's national football team in these years.

2020s
In the 2020s, women's football became more popular among young Iranians, both boys and girls. Iran qualified for their first ever AFC Women's Asian Cup when they won against Jordan on penalties in the qualifiers for the 2022 edition to be hosted in India. In Iran's historic debut, Iran impressed by holding India goalless, but following India's withdrawal due to COVID-19 pandemic, Iran's only point was lost, and thus Iran was left vulnerable to China and Chinese Taipei, losing 0–7 and 0–5 in process and was eliminated as the worst third-placed team.

In 2023, a report on BBC Persian reported the lack of facilities and friendly matches for the team. This report mentioned the "unwillingness" of the Iranian Football Federation to have a women's team. In the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Maryam Azmoun's team had one draw and two defeats (in second round of the tournament), although their slight loss against powerful Australia was predictable for the fans.

Nicknames
The Iran women's national football team have been known or nicknamed as the "Iranian Lionesses" (in Persian: Shirzanan). The Iran women's national football team is widely nicknamed the Persian stars since 2010. "Parsi women" or Persian ladies are another nicknames of the team in Asian football.

Media coverage and promotion
In the decades after 1979, the media coverage of women's football in Iran had problems, but the matches of the women's national team are usually followed by Iranian men and women in the national and foreign media.

Persian-language documentaries and sports programs are made about the team's winning potential and history.

Kit suppliers
The table below shows the history of kit supplier for the Iranian national football team.

Home stadium
Iran plays their home matches on the Ararat Stadium.

Attendance of women in football matches
On 9 November 2018 Fatma Samoura, Secretary General of International Federation of Football Association FIFA said she would ask Iranian government to end ban on women’s entry to sport stadiums.

In September 2019 it was reported that Iranian female football star Sahar Khodayari, dubbed the "blue girl", died after self-immolating in front of a court in Tehran when she found out she could face a two year sentence for attempting to enter a football stadium to watch her team play.

Results and fixtures
The following is a list of matches in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.


 * Legend

2024

 * Fixtures and Results (Iran)– Soccerway.com

Head-to-head record
, after the match against .

Manager history

 * 🇮🇷 Shahrzad Mozafar (2005)
 * 🇨🇳 Zhu Fang Shin (2008)
 * 🇮🇷 Maryam Irandoost (2010–2012)
 * Helena Costa (2012–2014)
 * 🇮🇷 Mahnaz Amirshaghaghi (2014–2016)
 * 🇮🇷 Maryam Azmoon (2016–2020)
 * 🇮🇷 Maryam Irandoost (2021–2022)
 * 🇮🇷 Maryam Azmoon (2022–)

Current squad

 * The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Belarus on 31 May and 4 June 2024.

Caps correct as of 12 January 2022.

Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up to the squad in the past year.

Players of Iranian heritage in other national teams

 * Unfortunately, due to strict FIFA rules, Iran women's team is unable to acquire experienced footballers who have many caps for other national teams. Two players of Iranian heritage are Sara Doorsoun who is a current player for 🇩🇪 Germany and unfortunately ineligible for selection for Iran, and Natasha Shirazi who is a current player for 🇺🇬 Uganda and might be able to switch nationality to Iran, be available for selection for Iran depending on the number of caps for Uganda.

Captains

 * Zahra Ghanbari (20xx–present)

Regional

 * WAFF Women's Championship
 * [[File:Med 2.png]] Runners-up: 2005, 2007, 2011


 * CAFA Women's Championship
 * [[File:Med 2.png]] Runners-up: 2018, 2022

FIFA Women's World Cup

 * *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

AFC Women's Asian Cup

 * *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

WAFF Women's Championship
Malavan F.C. participated at the 2010.

CAFA Women's Championship
Iran U-23 team participated at the 2018.

FIFA World Ranking
, after the match against .

Best Ranking  Best Mover   Worst Ranking   Worst Mover