1990 World Cup Qualifying Campaign

[Ararat Tehran]

That was some game, I watched it live on TV. 3-0 ahead then Chinese scored two goals late in the game I was so sad but I remember back in 1998 I was looking at the 1990 WCQ and realised even if Team Melli won 3:0 still China would go ahead because still their goal-diff was better.

If Iran had one 3-0 they would have gone through to the final round based on a superior goal difference. The final standings with respect to goal difference would have been:

Iran - Goals for 12 - Goals against 3 - Goal difference +9
China - Goals for 11 - Goals against 3 - Goal difference +8

[Rooyintan]

1990 campaign from 19.29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIUA09XqaIo

Muchas Gracias. Good memories of that team and pity only 4 [Abedzadeh, Zarincheh, Khakpour, Mohammadkhani] from that team finally got a chance to play at the World Cup.

[Ararat Tehran]

Yes that is what I thought at the time as well but years later when I was looking at the internet, China had one game left versus Thailand and they won big so even the 3-0 would not have helped Iran.

The table in my post takes into consideration China's 2-0 win over Thailand. Iran would have qualified to the next round should have they defeated china 3-0.

[KC McElroy]

Here is my personal recollections of watching the final qualification game plus a few more pictures I found.

Even though we were franticly trying to move in our given timeframe, yet I was still following Iran’s national team progress in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers. A change in coach and the internal suspension of a few key players such as Ghayeghran and Moharrami had somewhat disrupted the process. While trailing China in the table, tied on points but with an inferior goal difference, we played a makeshift lineup in our away game in Shenyang. We held on for much of the match until the Chinese finally scored a couple of late goals to win 2-0. The return leg in Tehran now took on extra importance because not only did we have to win but do so with a barrage of goals.

The day of the game I excused myself from packing and headed over to Khanom Joon’s house. No one was home, upstairs or down, so I settled in and hoped Khanom Joon’s old TV would have decent reception. As luck had it, I was able to quickly pick up the game with only a little bit of fiddling with the antenna. Iran started the game with an all-out attacking game plan while China was pinned into their own half. With only 15 minutes gone by, a dangerous cross was launched into the Chinese box. A defender headed it away but only as far as Ansarifard who struck a driven shot towards goal. As the Chinese keeper prepared to block the shot, Garousi got a touch on it and slightly deflected it beyond the keeper’s reach and the stadium erupted. I quickly grabbed the phone and dialed our number. The phone must have rung more than 20 times before my sister finally answered.

“Iran just scored!” I told her excitedly.

“That’s great,” she responded with very little enthusiasm and clearly annoyed by the interruption. “I gotta get back to packing now.”

I had barely taken my seat again when after a zigzag run by Ansarifard, Iran earned a free kick outside of the Chinese box. Eftekhari, an odd but understandable choice in the absence of the suspended Ghayeghran, stepped up and perfectly placed the ball in the upper corner. I once again reached for the phone. This time there was no answer.

Iran somewhat lessened the pressure towards the end of the 1st half but regrouped for the 2nd half. The result was a perfect cross by Kermani Moghaddam from the right side to his long-time teammate at Persepolis, Pious (although at the time he was playing for Qatar’s Al Ahli). Pious executed a downward header past his marker and the keeper to put Iran up by three goals, prompting spontaneous applause by me as I leaped out of my seat. With the momentum in Iran’s favor it seemed like it would be possible to make up the necessary goal difference although once again the players became too comfortable and sloppy plays began to appear. China made up a goal off a penalty kick and narrowed the gap to a single goal a few minutes later. Bavi came on the field to add an aerial advantage and nearly scored on a thunderous header while Pious wasted a chance on an unnecessary bicycle kick attempt. Ultimately the game ended 3-2 for Iran and an unlikely tie or win by Thailand in China’s final game would have be the only way for Iran to advance. China comfortably disposed of Thailand 2-0 in their final game thus eliminating Iran.

Pious being subbed off in the first leg against China:



Abedzadeh prior to the return match against China:



Pious prior to the return match against China:




Eftekhari about to take the free kick which gave Iran the 2-0 lead:



Garousi against China in the return leg:

[KC McElroy]

Found some rare footage of Iran's away game against Thailand. Almost 30 years later and Ghayeghran's long range goal is still impressive.

[KC McElroy]

I came across some more pictures.

Ghayeghran and Moharrami in friendly vs Japan:



Kermani Moghaddam and Moharrami in friendly vs Japan:



Zarrincheh against Bangladesh in Tehran:



Garousi against Bangladesh in Tehran:



Marfavi's goal against Bangladesh in Tehran:



Ghayeghran against Bangladesh in Tehran:



Namjoo Motlagh against Thailand in Tehran:



Abtahi against China in Tehran:



Kermani Moghaddam against China in Tehran:

[KC McElroy]

Pious's goal against China in Azadi. He headed the ball down and as soon as he headed it turned around and started celebrating. This picture clearly captures his early celebration.

[kaltz]

Thank you, Webmaster, for allowing me access on to the forum.

I am in the process of building an extensive website about the 1990 World Cup and indeed its qualification. Along with a co-worker, we've been working on this project now for six years plus (this is the website: www.italia1990.com - a work in progress, but we've worked our way through the UEFA, CONMEBOL and Oceania zones, and now we're starting on the three remaining confederations: AFC, CAF and CONCACAF).

My aim is to learn as much as I can about the Iranian national team which contested in the Italia '90 qualification, and I was delighted to come across this forum and not least this thread. I've not had the time to read through thoroughly yet. I am still in a very early phase of making myself acquainted with the AFC zone and its Group 5.

I have been able to get hold of a couple of videos from Team Melli's matches, although it is just from the two home fixtures against Bangladesh and China, and only about 35-40 mins from the former, in addition to 50 mins from the big one against the Chinese.

So far, I've looked through the tape from the Bangladesh game. It is something which was screened on Eurosport back then, and I've found out that the line-up which they presented for the Iranian players was quite, uh, erratic. Consistency in player names was very poor, and so I've had to learn their proper identity through facts pages from various sources (such as, for example, this: http://statfaneuro.narod.ru/001-WORL.../1990_afc.html). What names the on-screen line-up from Eurosport said was as follows:

1 Ahmad Reza, 2 Zarincheh, 3 Moharami, 4 Mohammad, 5 Fonouni, 6 Ashori, 7 Namjo, 8 Ansari, 9 Ghayeghran, 10 Bavi, 11 Kermani

I think you can agree that this is not very precise. There is also at least one player in the starting line-up with a shirt number higher than 11 (I believe 19).
The team captain is the central midfielder in the number 8 shirt. I am thinking that this "Ansari" which Eurosport is refering to must be Ansarifar (or Ansarifard - not the current star player, Karim's, father by any chance?), but in any other line-up from this fixture, there is no sign of anyone named "Ansarifar/Ansarifard". So who was the Iran captain for this fixture? Who was wearing the number 8 shirt?

[KC McElroy]

Thank you, Webmaster, for allowing me access on to the forum.
I am in the process of building an extensive website about the 1990 World Cup and indeed its qualification. Along with a co-worker, we've been working on this project now for six years plus (this is the website: www.italia1990.com - a work in progress, but we've worked our way through the UEFA, CONMEBOL and Oceania zones, and now we're starting on the three remaining confederations: AFC, CAF and CONCACAF).
My aim is to learn as much as I can about the Iranian national team which contested in the Italia '90 qualification, and I was delighted to come across this forum and not least this thread. I've not had the time to read through thoroughly yet. I am still in a very early phase of making myself acquainted with the AFC zone and its Group 5.
I have been able to get hold of a couple of videos from Team Melli's matches, although it is just from the two home fixtures against Bangladesh and China, and only about 35-40 mins from the former, in addition to 50 mins from the big one against the Chinese.
So far, I've looked through the tape from the Bangladesh game. It is something which was screened on Eurosport back then, and I've found out that the line-up which they presented for the Iranian players was quite, uh, erratic. Consistency in player names was very poor, and so I've had to learn their proper identity through facts pages from various sources (such as, for example, this: http://statfaneuro.narod.ru/001-WORL.../1990_afc.html). What names the on-screen line-up from Eurosport said was as follows:
1 Ahmad Reza, 2 Zarincheh, 3 Moharami, 4 Mohammad, 5 Fonouni, 6 Ashori, 7 Namjo, 8 Ansari, 9 Ghayeghran, 10 Bavi, 11 Kermani
I think you can agree that this is not very precise. There is also at least one player in the starting line-up with a shirt number higher than 11 (I believe 19).
The team captain is the central midfielder in the number 8 shirt. I am thinking that this "Ansari" which Eurosport is refering to must be Ansarifar (or Ansarifard - not the current star player, Karim's, father by any chance?), but in any other line-up from this fixture, there is no sign of anyone named "Ansarifar/Ansarifard". So who was the Iran captain for this fixture? Who was wearing the number 8 shirt?

The lineup you posted has some first names and some shortened last names. The lineup posted in your link is correct (Abedzadeh; Fonoonizadeh; Zarincheh; Mohammedkhani; Moharrami; Namjoo Mutlaq (Ashoori, 65); Ghayeghran; Eftekhari; Kermani Muqadam (Marfavi, 65); Garousi; Bavi). The captain and number 8 was Ghayeghran. Ansarifard did not play in the game while Ashouri came on as a sub. Abedzadeh was number 1, Zarrincheh was number 2, Moharrami 3, Fonoonizadeh 5, Kermani Moghaddam 11, Marfavi 9, Garousi 19 and Bavi 10. These are the ones I can say with certainty as I have pictures of them from the game. Eftekhari looks like he has a 3 on his shorts so he was probably 13. Namjoo Motlagh was normally 7. As a defender Mohammadkhani was probably 4 in this game.

[kaltz]

Your assistance is much appreciated. I have them all sorted now, and with shirts number 13 and 19 in use from kick-off, the two absent ones between 1 and 11 were 6 and 9.
I am seeing this selection in lieu of a 4-3-3 formation, something like this:

1 Abedzadeh
2 Zarincheh - 4 Mohammadkhani - 5 Fonoonizadeh - 3 Moharrami
7 Namjoomutlagh - 8 Ghayeghran (c) - 13 Eftekhari
19 Garousi - 10 Bavi - 11 Kermani Mughaddam

Of course, with this being based on a 35 minutes summary, it could well be that I am wrong regarding the formation, but this is how it appears to me from watching.
Kermani Mughaddam and Namjoomutlagh are both quite active during that first half (incidentally, both would go on and be substituted after the break), and it is an impressive strike against the bar from the edge of the 18 yard area by the latter when Kermani Mughaddam lays it on to a plate for him. This appears to happen around the 15 minute mark. Iran continue to line up a number of chances throughout this summary, and you felt it had been very unfortunate that they didn't score until late in the game; there had certainly been opportunities.
I had initially been trying to implement a couple of screenshots which I took, but either the size of them is too big or it is too early for me yet on this forum for the administrators to allow me to do that. It had looked like they'd been uploaded, but once completed, I could find no trace of them.

Obviously, this is just one of Iran's six qualifiers for Italia '90, and two had already been played, with those away wins in Thailand and Bangladesh prior to this home fixture. I read briefly what you wrote about the journey to China, where the team was deprived of three of its best players, something which obviously was far from ideal when travelling to face such a strong opponent. Very unfortunate.

Long shot: You wouldn't happen to know the identity of the Bangladeshi players as well? I am 100 % certain that the line-up which Eurosport presented on-screen was incorrect. When they managed to get the Iranian eleven so badly wrong, I can't imagine it being any better for the opposition. I notice they play with #2 and #3 (Hammid?) at the heart of their defence, among which the latter is their captain, and that they have #4 (Rashid?) at right-back (by the look of things). Other than that, their #7 (Dasropo?) looked like he had some tricks up his sleeve, and #9 (Islami?) definitely played up top. I need to study their players closer to get a better idea of their formation. They had won 3-1 at home to Thailand nine days earlier, which would prove to be their solitary win of that qualification, so I can imagine that they were on something of a high, even if they must have realized that playing away in Tehran was a whole different ball game than to play hosts to lowly Thailand.

[Nokhodi]

Your assistance is much appreciated. I have them all sorted now, and with shirts number 13 and 19 in use from kick-off, the two absent ones between 1 and 11 were 6 and 9.
I am seeing this selection in lieu of a 4-3-3 formation, something like this:

1 Abedzadeh
2 Zarincheh - 4 Mohammadkhani - 5 Fonoonizadeh - 3 Moharrami
7 Namjoomutlagh - 8 Ghayeghran (c) - 13 Eftekhari
19 Garousi - 10 Bavi - 11 Kermani Mughaddam

Of course, with this being based on a 35 minutes summary, it could well be that I am wrong regarding the formation, but this is how it appears to me from watching.
Kermani Mughaddam and Namjoomutlagh are both quite active during that first half (incidentally, both would go on and be substituted after the break), and it is an impressive strike against the bar from the edge of the 18 yard area by the latter when Kermani Mughaddam lays it on to a plate for him. This appears to happen around the 15 minute mark. Iran continue to line up a number of chances throughout this summary, and you felt it had been very unfortunate that they didn't score until late in the game; there had certainly been opportunities.
I had initially been trying to implement a couple of screenshots which I took, but either the size of them is too big or it is too early for me yet on this forum for the administrators to allow me to do that. It had looked like they'd been uploaded, but once completed, I could find no trace of them.

Obviously, this is just one of Iran's six qualifiers for Italia '90, and two had already been played, with those away wins in Thailand and Bangladesh prior to this home fixture. I read briefly what you wrote about the journey to China, where the team was deprived of three of its best players, something which obviously was far from ideal when travelling to face such a strong opponent. Very unfortunate.

Long shot: You wouldn't happen to know the identity of the Bangladeshi players as well? I am 100 % certain that the line-up which Eurosport presented on-screen was incorrect. When they managed to get the Iranian eleven so badly wrong, I can't imagine it being any better for the opposition. I notice they play with #2 and #3 (Hammid?) at the heart of their defence, among which the latter is their captain, and that they have #4 (Rashid?) at right-back (by the look of things). Other than that, their #7 (Dasropo?) looked like he had some tricks up his sleeve, and #9 (Islami?) definitely played up top. I need to study their players closer to get a better idea of their formation. They had won 3-1 at home to Thailand nine days earlier, which would prove to be their solitary win of that qualification, so I can imagine that they were on something of a high, even if they must have realized that playing away in Tehran was a whole different ball game than to play hosts to lowly Thailand.

Hello and welcome to the forum;

Just a few small notes - Despite having the same last names, Mohammad Ansarifard has no relation to current national team player Karim Ansarifard.

Regarding the Bangladesh lineup, you can find some information for the 2 legs here, but I don't know if it is as in-depth as you require.

Good luck on your research. I was too young for this tournament to really remember much!

https://www.teammelli.com/matchdata/details/matchdetails.php?id=2090

https://www.teammelli.com/matchdata/details/matchdetails.php?id=2089

[Iran_19]

Iran missed to qualify to final round by only freaking GOAL AVERAGE(If i am not wrong 2 goals average), we lost away to China 0-2 and won 3-2 at home while leading 3-0.
With 3-0 result, we could have already beenn in final round i believe.
Monajati used bunch of inexperienced players in China which have costed us the qualification.
Also it was way harder to qualify back then compare to now, as only two teams qualified to WC from Asia until 1998.

[kaltz]

Hello and welcome to the forum;

Thank you! It is a tasty forum with a wealth of knowledge.

Just a few small notes - Despite having the same last names, Mohammad Ansarifard has no relation to current national team player Karim Ansarifard.

Thanks for letting me know. For all I know, Ansarifard may be quite a common name in Iran. I was not sure, and since he was a player whom I was looking forward to watching for Team Melli during the 2014 World Cup, he was something of an early Iranian favourite player of mine. I was lending Iran my support throughout the tournament, which meant I had done some research on the team prior to the tournament, watching warm-up matches and so on. Alas, Karim Ansarifard, as you all well know, didn't turn out to be among the Team Melli stars of that particular tournament, though I am pleased to see that he's since made up for it since by having a distinguished club career.

Supporting Iran during 2014 eventually saw me go on a two week vacation to your beautiful country. I had a week in Isfahan and a week in Tehran. I enjoyed both so much. And I got to see a league game both places, although I had to travel out of Isfahan and over to Fooladshahr to see Sepahan in action against Gostaresh. As I had enjoyed Ehsan Hajsafi's performances during the World Cup, I could not resist buying a Team Melli shirt with '3 Hajsafi' printed on the back. To my huge disappointment, it would turn out that he didn't feature in that game. Rumours had it that he was on his way to Hull City in England. I thought to myself..."how would anyone wish to swap Isfahan for a dull, grey English city like Hull?" Obviously, such a move never materialized, and I don't know whether there was anything in those rumours, which I learnt about when I was talking to local fans outside the Zob Ahan stadium (breathtaking scenery there, by the way!) prior to the game.

In Tehran, I got to see Esteghlal against Foolad at the Azadi Stadium. Another overwhelming experience, and while I had again been hoping to see some of the World Cup stars in action, such as Sadeghi and Teymourian, I would have to make do with watching Heydari (although Teymourian did make it on during the second half). The locals were surrounding me and asking me like a thousand questions, as they realized I was a foreigner (I am Norwegian) - they were guessing I'm German, which is an understandable assumption to make
I have since encouraged anyone with whom I've talked about my lone trip to Iran with to go and experience the country for themselves. They will never regret it.

Regarding the Bangladesh lineup, you can find some information for the 2 legs here, but I don't know if it is as in-depth as you require.

Thank you again. I will definitely look into that and see what I can make of it.

By the way, I need to learn about every single nation which took part in the Italia '90 qualifiers, which is a huge undertaking, but a very pleasing one from a personal point of view nevertheless. It has already brought me in connection with a lot of lovely, knowledgeable people around the world, and I am hoping to continue this trend. I am very grateful so far for the assistance which you people have given me.

Good luck on your research. I was too young for this tournament to really remember much!

Thank you!
I turned 17 during the summer of Italia '90, and I must admit I have greater knowledge on past events than on today's football.

[KC McElroy]

Iran missed to qualify to final round by only freaking GOAL AVERAGE(If i am not wrong 2 goals average), we lost away to China 0-2 and won 3-2 at home while leading 3-0.
With 3-0 result, we could have already beenn in final round i believe.
Monajati used bunch of inexperienced players in China which have costed us the qualification.
Also it was way harder to qualify back then compare to now, as only two teams qualified to WC from Asia until 1998.

I wouldn't blame Monajati. He had built a cohesive unit with experienced players but IFF gutted the team with suspensions in the week leading up to the match. I recently read an interview online about Ghayeghran where a former player was talking about him. I forget who it was but he was alluding to a picture of players of that time including Ghayeghran where drinks were visible in the picture and he was swearing up and down that it wasn't what it seemed. I'll see if I can find it again.

[kaltz]

Iran missed to qualify to final round by only freaking GOAL AVERAGE(If i am not wrong 2 goals average), we lost away to China 0-2 and won 3-2 at home while leading 3-0.
With 3-0 result, we could have already beenn in final round i believe.
Monajati used bunch of inexperienced players in China which have costed us the qualification.
Also it was way harder to qualify back then compare to now, as only two teams qualified to WC from Asia until 1998.

It must have been a bit of a sickener to concede twice after leading 3-0 in that decisive tie against the Chinese.
I read earlier in the thread that three of the more experienced squad members were withdrawn, possibly due to reasons out of Monajati's control, so for sure, that had a big say on how the loss in China came about.

Who knows how Team Melli would've fared if they had been given the chance to prove themselves in that final group stage.