Is the Iranian Football scene Progressing in Recent times?

It has to be said that Iran's Premier football league, the Persian Gulf Pro League, does not garner much attention from outside the Middle Eastern area. Fans around the world would be hard-pressed to name any of the players or teams here, yet it seems like the general football scene is making headway in football fans minds. While destined to never compete with top or even middle-tier leagues in Europe, Iranians can be happy with the progress that appears to have been made in recent times.

Apart from progress on the field, developments off the pitch caused worldwide attention to be brought to the country as people questioned their harsh laws and strict rules. What may be normal in other countries may not be allowed in Iran, for example, sports betting is illegal here. Yet, taking on all obstacles, Iran has slowly started to develop itself on the world scene and look like for many reasons, they have announced they are here to stay.

Bidding for the Asian Cup 2027

Despite being such a large country in the region, Iran has not hosted a major football tournament in quite a long time. News of their bid to host the Asian Cup in 2027 was warmly welcomed, although they will face stiff opposition in the face of India, Saudi Arabia and next year's World Cup hosts, Qatar.

Originally the host was to have been chosen this year but, due to the onset of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the bidding process has been pushed back until 2022. It's the Asian continent's version of the Euros which were enjoyed by so many this summer. Iran will be hoping for the decision to go their way as there are good omens there, having won the tournament both times it was held on home soil, in 1968 and 1976 respectively.

An Easy World Cup Group?

While Iran is not assured of their place at the World Cup finals, with two groups consisting of the final Asian competitors, some have looked at their qualifying group as being quite favourable. Having avoided big guns like Japan, Australia and up and ever-improving footballing nation China, they will be confident of making a third consecutive finals appearance.

Their group contains South Korea, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. While sounding potentially tricky, the top two teams qualify automatically with the teams finishing third in the groups playing against each other for the final spot. Being the second highest-ranked Asian team in the FIFA World Rankings, Iran should have enough strength and quality to progress here. If you feel they will get through their group, be sure to check out the betting odds available on their qualification at online betting sites like casinot.

Finally Easing Restrictions on Women Attending

It was a constant source of unease and unhappiness that women were not allowed to attend football matches of any description. Since 1981, they had been banned due to the Islamic law practised in the country, with women even going to lengths of disguising themselves as men to try to gain entrance. While catching the attention of the rest of the world, not much was done until the unfortunate event of a woman setting herself ablaze to force people to act. International governments condemned Iran and FIFA, the world football association began to exert pressure on the country, even going as far to consider banning the country from World Cup qualifying matches. Restrictions were loosened and women were allowed to attend international matches, although the domestic league has not yet clarified where it stands. But this is another positive step for Iran and hopefully, things will only get better.

Strength in their Home League

Although it was a tight title race this year, the dominant team in Iran at the moment, Persepolis, still managed to secure their fifth championship in a row. Hopes there may be a new team on top this year were dashed, as their nearest rivals Sepahan, finished an agonising two points behind Persepolis. However, despite Persepolis' resilience in fighting off all teams domestically, they have unfortunately failed to transfer this power in the continental AFC Champions League finals.

Appearing in two finals in the last three years, they failed to bring the trophy home on both occasions, losing to first Japanese and then Korean opposition respectively. While being serial winners of the league, this is one area where Iran could improve more. Having a club side that could boast it was the best side on the continent would be a major boost to enhance Iran's blooming footballing reputation. Not since 1993 has an Iranian side been able to claim such an honour.

Players plying their trade in Europe

As opposed to before, when little attention was paid to the domestic league or few players made the move to Europe, there has certainly been an increase in the number of Iranians playing in different leagues around Europe. One of the most high profile players is attacking midfielder Alireza Jahanbaksh, who started his European adventure with AZ Alkmaar of Holland. Moving to English Premier League club Brighton for £17 million, the transfer did not work out as well as expected and he recently signed for Feyenoord in a return to the Dutch league.

Two Iranian strikers that have caught the eye over the years are Porto forward Mehdi Taremi and Zenit St. Petersburg's Sardar Azmoun. Both are in the prime of their careers and they are still capable of banging in the goals. Recent speculation suggests that Azmoun may be on the move again with a possible move to Serie A on the cards. If this goes through, it would provide another boost to the progress in Iranian football and performing well in this tough league would only increase the spotlight on the game in Iran in general.

Summary

All in all, it has to be said that the state of football in Iran seems to be in healthy shape, with potential there to assure growing acclaim on the world stage. If Iran makes it to the next World Cup, their target will be to get further than the group stage. Regardless of this or not, they will be doing their country proud as many nations fail to qualify. From Iran's point of view, in each direction they look, their football scene is all looking pretty promising right now.