Iran men's national volleyball team

Iran

Nickname(s)	Sarv Qaamataan سرو قامتان (Cedar tree Heights) "Iranian Cheetahs " یوز های ایرانی
Association	IRIVF
Confederation	AVC
Head coach	Behrouz Ataei
FIVB ranking	12 (as of June 28, 2021)
Uniforms
Home Away Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances	2 (First in 2016)
Best result	5th (2016)
World Championship
Appearances	7 (First in 1970)
Best result	6th (2014)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (First in 1991)
Best result	8th (2015, 2019)
Asian Championship
Appearances	19 (First in 1979)
Best result	(2011, 2013, 2019)
iranvolleyball.com

Medal record
World Grand Champions Cup
	2017 Japan
Asian Championship
	2011 Tehran
	2013 Dubai
	2019 Tehran
	2009 Manila
	2015 Tehran
	2003 Tianjin
Asian Games
	2014 Incheon	Team
	2018 Jakarta–Palembang	Team
	1958 Tokyo	Team
	2002 Busan	Team
	2010 Guangzhou	Team
	1966 Bangkok	Team
Asian Cup
	2008 Nakhon Ratchasima
	2010 Urmia
	2016 Nakhon Pathom
	2012 Vinh Yen
	2018 Taipei

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 September 2021, Team Melli is considered as the best team in Asia, as it ranks 10th in the FIVB World Rankings.^[1]

The national team won the Asian Volleyball Championship three times: in 2011 Tehran, 2013 Dubai and 2019 Tehran.

In its first appearance in the competition since joining the 2013 World League, Iran has been a dominant force in Group 1 of the competition, posing a challenge to any opponent. Defeating Italy and Cuba in these games, Iran introduced itself as a formidable contender.

In 2014 World League campaign, Iran's national team reached the 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 the 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 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 at the 5th place in the competition.

History[]

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The history of Iran’s volleyball dates back to around 1920 when Mir Mehdi Varzandeh brought volleyball regulations to Iran. During the World War II, forces of Allies occupied Iran, sport Contacts especially in volleyball was done with soldiers of these forces; it was a new way for familiarity with volleyball of the other countries. At that time a friendly match was fixed between the Iran and Russian Army team. In 1958 for the first time national men’s team of Pakistan was invited to Tehran, guest team had some friendly matches with national team, club teams and Army team. Iran's national team first attended at 1958 Asian Games.^[2]

Tournament records[]

Notes: Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes, respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.

Olympic Games[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1964	Did not enter or Did not qualify
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016	5th place	6	2	4	8	12
2020	9th place	5	2	3	9	11
2024	Future events
2028
2032
Total	2/15	11	4	7	17	23

World Championship[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1949	Did not enter
1952
1956
1960
1962
1966
1970	21st place	11	4	7	16	24
1974	Did not enter
1978
1982	Did not qualify
1986	Did not enter
1990	Did not qualify
1994
1998	19th place	3	0	3	0	9
2002	Did not enter
2006	21st place	5	0	5	2	15
2010	19th place	3	1	2	5	7
2014	6th place	12	7	5	26	21
2018	13th place	8	4	4	14	16
2022	Qualified
Total	7/20	42	16	26	63	92

World Cup[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1965	Did not enter
1969
1977
1981
1985
1989	Did not qualify
1991	11th place	8	1	7	5	23
1995	Did not qualify
1999
2003
2007
2011	9th place	11	5	6	16	25
2015	8th place	11	4	7	16	24
2019	8th place	11	4	7	19	25
Total	4/14	41	14	27	56	97

World Grand Champions Cup[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1993	Did not qualify
1997
2001
2005
2009	5th place	5	1	4	8	14
2013	4th place	5	3	2	10	10
2017	3rd place	5	4	1	12	10
Total	3/7	15	8	7	30	34

World League[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1990	Did not enter
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010	Did not qualify
2011
2012
2013	9th place	10	5	5	20	21
2014	4th place	16	7	9	28	32
2015	7th place	12	6	6	25	21
2016	8th place	9	4	5	15	22
2017	11th place	9	3	6	11	23
Total	5/28	56	25	31	99	119

Nations League[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
2018	10th place	15	7	8	29	30
2019	5th place	17	12	5	41	21
2021	12th place	15	5	10	25	32
Total	3/3	47	24	23	95	83

Asian Championship[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1975	Did not enter
1979	6th place	6	3	3	12	10
1983	Did not enter
1987	10th place	5	2	3	7	10
1989	8th place	8	3	5	15	13
1991	7th place	7	3	4	11	12
1993	5th place	6	3	3	9	10
1995	4th place	5	2	3	6	11
1997	6th place	5	2	3	8	11
1999	5th place	6	4	2	13	10
2001	5th place	6	4	2	14	10
2003	3rd place	7	5	2	16	12
2005	6th place	5	3	2	12	10
2007	5th place	9	5	4	17	18
2009	Runners-up	8	7	1	22	10
2011	Champions	8	8	0	24	2
2013	Champions	7	7	0	21	1
2015	Runners-up	8	6	2	20	9
2017	5th place	8	6	2	20	10
2019	Champions	8	7	1	22	4
2021	In progress	6	6	0	18	1
Total	19/21	128	86	42	288	174

• Note: Iran played their B team in 2015 and U23 team in 2017.

Asian Games[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1958	Runners-up	4	3	1	9	6
1962	Did not enter
1966	3rd place	8	5	3	16	14
1970	5th place	7	3	4	11	14
1974	4th place	5	2	3	7	9
1978	Did not enter
1982
1986
1990
1994	5th place	9	5	4	16	16
1998	Did not enter
2002	Runners-up	6	4	2	12	10
2006	6th place	3	1	2	6	7
2010	Runners-up	9	8	1	25	4
2014	Champions	8	8	0	24	2
2018	Champions	5	5	0	15	0
2022	Future event
2022
2030
2034
Total	10/16	64	44	20	141	82

Asian Cup[]

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
2008	Champions	6	5	1	16	8
2010	Champions	6	6	0	18	6
2012	Runners-up	6	5	1	16	7
2014	4th place	6	4	2	14	9
2016	Champions	6	6	0	18	5
2018	Runners-up	5	4	1	14	5
Total	6/6	35	30	5	96	40

• Note: Iran played their B team in 2012, 2014, 2016 & 2018.

Other tournaments[]

• West Asian Games
  • 2005 – Runners-up
• Islamic Solidarity Games
  • 2005 – Champions
  • 2013 – Champions
  • 2017 – Champions

Note: Iran played their B team in 2013 and U21 team in 2017.

• Universiade
  • 2017 – Champions

Results and fixtures[]

Previous matches[]

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent	Result
2021
28 May 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Japan	0–3 L
29 May 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Russia	1–3 L
30 May 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Netherlands	3–0 W
3 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Canada	3–1 W
4 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Italy	3–1 W
5 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Bulgaria	3–0 W
9 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	United States	3–0 W
10 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Serbia	2–3 L
11 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Germany	2–3 L
15 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Australia	2–3 L
16 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Brazil	1–3 L
17 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Slovenia	1–3 L
21 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	France	0–3 L
22 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Poland	0–3 L
23 June 2021	2021 Nations League	Italy	Argentina	1–3 L
24 July 2021	2020 Olympic Volleyball Tournament	Japan	Poland	3–2 W
26 July 2021	2020 Olympic Volleyball Tournament	Japan	Venezuela	3–0 W
28 July 2021	2020 Olympic Volleyball Tournament	Japan	Canada	0–3 L
30 July 2021	2020 Olympic Volleyball Tournament	Japan	Italy	1–3 L
1 August 2021	2020 Olympic Volleyball Tournament	Japan	Japan	2–3 L
12 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	Hong Kong	3–0 W
13 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	Thailand	3–0 W
14 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	Pakistan	3–0 W
16 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	South Korea	3–0 W
17 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	Chinese Taipei	3–0 W
18 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	China	3–1 W

Forthcoming matches[]

Date	Competition	Location	Opponent
2021
19 September 2021	2021 Asian Championship	Japan	Japan

Team[]

Current squad[]

Representing Iran at the 2021 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship (updated on 12 September 2021).

• Head coach: Behrouz Ataei

No.	Name	Date of birth	Height	Weight	Spike	Block	2021 club
1		21 May 2001	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	355 cm (140 in)	330 cm (130 in)
2	Milad Ebadipour (C)	17 October 1993	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	78 kg (172 lb)	350 cm (140 in)	310 cm (120 in)	Skra Bełchatów
3	Reza Abedini	19 May 1991	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	354 cm (139 in)	348 cm (137 in)	Shahdab Yazd
5	Amir Hossein Toukhteh	9 April 2001	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	360 cm (140 in)	330 cm (130 in)	ACH Volley Ljubljana
6	Ali Asghar Mojarrad	30 October 1997	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	330 cm (130 in)	310 cm (120 in)	Shahrdari Varamin
7		21 November 1997	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	71 kg (157 lb)	310 cm (120 in)	290 cm (110 in)	Paykan Tehran VC
8	Mohammad Reza Hazratpour	31 March 1999	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	300 cm (120 in)	290 cm (110 in)	Shahrdari Urmia
10	Meysam Salehi	17 November 1998	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	345 cm (136 in)	330 cm (130 in)	Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
11	Saber Kazemi	24 December 1998	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	340 cm (130 in)	325 cm (128 in)	Foolad Sirjan
12	Amir Hossein Esfandiar	24 January 1999	2.09 m (6 ft 10 in)	119 kg (262 lb)	330 cm (130 in)	310 cm (120 in)	Greenyard Maaseik
13		5 May 1998	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	320 cm (130 in)	300 cm (120 in)
14		1 March 1998	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)	104 kg (229 lb)	330 cm (130 in)	310 cm (120 in)	Greenyard Maaseik
17		17 December 1996	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	343 cm (135 in)	332 cm (131 in)
19		21 January 1993	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	63 kg (139 lb)	295 cm (116 in)	275 cm (108 in)

Head coaches[]

Note: The following list may not be complete.

A Team[]

Name	From	To	notes
Sardar Nasrollahkhan[3]	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
Ivans Bugajenkovs	1991	2007	Acted as head coach from 1991-1993 and as the general technical manager of all age groups from 1991-2007.
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
Park Ki-won	2002	2005	2002 Asian Games Runners-up 2003 Asian Championship 3rd place
Milorad Kijac	2006
Zoran Gajić	2007	2008
Hossein Maadani	2008	2010	2008 Asian Cup Champions 2009 Asian Championship Runners-up 2010 Asian Cup Champions 2010 Asian Games Runners-up
Julio Velasco	2011	2014	2011 Asian Championship Champions 2013 Asian Championship Champions 2013 World Grand Champions Cup 4th place
Slobodan Kovač	2014	2015	2014 World League 4th place 2014 World Championship 6th place 2014 Asian Games Champions
Raúl Lozano	2016		2016 Olympic Games 5th place
Igor 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
Vladimir Alekno	2020	2021	2020 Olympic Games 9th place
Behrouz Ataei	2021	present

Coaching staff[]

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Behrouz Ataei[4]
Assistant Coach	Azim Jazideh
Translator	Manelli Kasraei
Doctor&Physiotherapist	Reza Gholipour
Fitness Coach	Mehdi Khabaz
Analyzer	Navid Moshajari
U23 Coach	Vacant
U21 & B team Coach	Vacant
U19 Coach	Mohammad Vakili
Team Manager	Amir Khosh Khabar

B Team[]

Name	From–To	notes
Mohammad Vakili	2012	2012 Asian Cup Runners-up
Hossein Maadani	2013	2013 Islamic Solidarity Games Champions
	2014–2015	2014 Asian Cup 4th place 2015 Asian Championship Runners-up
Nasser Shahnazi[5]	2016	2016 Asian Cup Champions
Juan Manuel Cichello	2017
Behrouz Ataei	2018	2018 Asian Cup Runners-up

Stadium[]

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.

Period	Kit provider
2000–2008	Asics Mikasa Fuerza Mizuno Ideal
2008–	Merooj

Sponsorship[]

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

References[]

• (in Persian) Asian Volleyball Championship
• (in Persian) Volleyball at the Asian Games
• (in Persian) Iran Volleyball History

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iran men's national volleyball team.

• Official website
• FIVB profile

Notable squads[]