The road to qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 was quite interesting. The qualifications rounds spanning 696 days and 16 matches , started with the first match played in Azadi against Maldives on 23^rd July 2011 and it ended in Ulsan, South Korea on 18^th June 2013 against Korea Rep. with both matches resulting in victory for Team Melli.

Iran won 10 out of the 16 matches (62.5%) , drawing 4 matches (25%) and losing 2 matches (12.5%)

 

Full table

Stage	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
Round 4	IRAN	8	5	1	2	8	2	+6	16
Round 3	IRAN	6	3	3	0	17	5	5	12
Round 2	IRAN	2	2	0	0	5	0	5	6
		16	10	4	2	22	5	10	34

 

All the matches played by Team Melli were under the coaching of Carlos Queiroz.

Players selections

It transpired that Queiroz used more experienced players as the average age of the squad was quite high 29.08 years, while mainly selecting players from the two most popular teams in Iran Perspolis and Esteghlal who had the lion share of the players , 12 and 10 respectively. In the season when the qualification started, Perspolis ended the season at 12^th place, it worst ranking in the league , while Esteghlal were 3^rd.

Next season of the WC qualifying rounds, 2012/13 Perspolis fared slightly better ending the season at 7^th place in the table , while Esteghlal won the championship title.

Team Melli had 8 foreign clubs players on its list, with players such as Ghoochannejad and Shojaei playing for two clubs during the campaign.

Half of the players in this campaign were 30 years or older (18 out of 36 players) while only 3 player were 25 years or younger (less than 1%).

If the same core of the squad will be used in next year’s final rounds of the World Cup, the average age of the team will rise to 30 years or more.

 

 

Scoring Analysis.

Team Melli scored 30 goals in the campaign for qualification to the World Cup with an average of 1.88 goals per game. The Midfield players scored the majority of the goals with the Captain Javad Nekounam topping the list of the scorers with 6 goals. Forwards scored 7 goals only.

Two thirds of the goals (20 )of total goals of 30 were scored at home  (66.6%), while a third (10) was scored away from home.

13 different players scored for Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup 2014 campaign. Only 3 recognized forwards are amongst the scorers and 2 defenders.

 

Fans support

A total of 660,340 fans watch Team Melli matches home and away. All the matches of Team Melli at home were played in Azadi stadium with an official capacity of 100,000 fans. The 8 home games attracted more than half a million fans (550,100 ) while 110,240 watch Team Melli matches away.

The greatest attendance was the Home match in Azadi against Korea Rep, were 110,000 fans packed Azadi stadium in outskirt of Tehran. The lowest attendance was for the first match against the Maldives with 15,000 fans only.

On average , the home matches for Team Melli attracted 68.76% capacity.

 

Briefs

• Team Melli scored 30 goals in the 16 matches played while conceding 7 only
• Goal scoring average per match = 1.88 goals
• Goal scored against average per match = 0.23 goals
• 13 different players scored for Team Melli in the qualifying rounds.
• The forwards scored 7 goals (23%)
• Midfield players scored 20 goals ( 66%)
• Defenders scored 3 goals (10%)
• Team Melli had 10 shut-out matches in 16 where the opponents failed to score.
• Only one team managed to score more than one goals against Iran. Qatar scored 2 goals in Azadi.
• Total number of players used in the Qualification matches is 36
• Average player’s age was 29.08 years
• Oldest player was Farhad Majidi with 36 years
• Youngest players were Karim Ansarifard and Ehsan Hajsafy  ( (23 years). Ansarifard is younger by 1 1/2 months.
• 18 out of 36 players  (50%) were 30 years old or above
• Only 3 players  (less than 1%) were 25 years old or below
• 13 Players changed clubs during the World cup qualification games started in July 2011