Persian Football Players Who Played in America

From Alecko Eskandarian to Steven Beitashour, discover the best Iranian football players who left their mark in the United States. Read on for more.

Iran is not the first country you think of when it comes to football. However, the country has produced players that have gone on to play in the Premier League, the Bundesliga, across Europe and Asia, and a few even made it to the United States. 

While only a tiny handful made it to the US, these players made it to the American soccer league, or at least they got very close. 

Andranik Eskandarian

Andranik Eskandarian is a former Iranian footballer born in Tehran in 1951. He was a defender that played in Iran and the US, representing Poolad Tehran, Ararat Tehran, Taj, New York Cosmos, New York Express, and the New Jersey Eagles. 

In 1976, Eskandarian was part of the Iranian team that won the Asia Cup that year and was a player in the group that reached the quarter-finals of the Olympics in Montreal in 1976. He then went on to represent Iran in the 1978 World Cup. 

Shortly after the World Cup, Eskandarian moved to the United States and joined the biggest club at the time, New York Cosmos. With the Cosmos, he would go on to win the North American Soccer League three times – in 1978, 1980, and 1982. 

 After Cosmos folded, Eskandarian played for the indoor team, the New York Express, and then from 1989 to 1990, he played for the New Jersey Eagles. He retired after that season and now lives and works in the US, where he owns two sporting goods stores in New Jersey. 

Alecko Eskandarian

The son of Andranik, Alecko Eskandarian, may have been born in the US, but he has Iran in his heart. He spent his senior career playing across the MLS, representing D.C United, Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA, and LA Galaxy. 

He has won the MLS Cup Championship with D.C United, and was the Cup MVP in the same season. He was also named an MLS All-Star in 2004 and 2006, and won the MLS Supporters Shield in 2006. 

Alecko also enjoyed some time as a coach; he was the assistant coach for the Philadelphia Union and the New York Cosmos, and he became the head coach for the latter. He now works at the MLS headquarters in New York.

Iraj Danaeifard

Iraj Danaeifard is one of the more unknown players to have made the switch to the US. He started his career in 1970, playing for the Iranian club Taj, and he spent two seasons there before moving to Oghab. 

After two seasons at Oghab, Iraj moved to Pas, where he spent three seasons until 1977. He then moved back to Taj in 1980. That year Iraj immigrated to the US and joined the North American Soccer League team, the Tulsa Roughnecks. 

Iraj played 99 times for the Roughnecks, scoring 15 goals in his two stints there. Internationally, he scored for Iran against Scotland in the 1978 World Cup, they drew the game, but it was their best international result ever. Iraj passed away in 2018 due to liver failure at the age of 67. 

Afshin Ghotbi

Afshin Ghotbi didn’t have the same extensive playing career as his fellow countrymen on this list; however, he has had a long career as a coach all over the world. Ghotbi was born in Iran but moved to Los Angeles at 13 after his father remarried. 

Ghotbi attended UCLA, where he got his degree and would play for their football team, the Bruins. After leaving UCLA, he returned as a coach, this time for the UCLA women’s team. As the years went by, he would work in more and more critical roles. 

He was the assistant coach for the US men’s team from 1998 to 1999; he was also the assistant for the South Korean team and LA Galaxy. He was the head coach of Iran from 2009 to 2011, and has just finished a run of head coach positions in China and Asia. 

Khodadad Azizi

Azizi got his start in Iran by playing for Aboomoslem, Fath Tehran, Bahman, and Persopolis. After plying his trade in his home country, he moved to Germany, signing for Koln in 1997. He would play there until 2000, when he made the surprising move to the US. 

Azizi signed for the San Jose Earthquake, making him the first-ever Iranian to play for the team. In moving to San Jose, Azizi also became only the second-ever Iranian to play in the MLS. His stint in the US was brief, though, as he was transferred to Al-Nasr after one season. 

Steven Beitashour

One of the most famous Iranian football players in the US wasn’t even born in Iran. Steven Beitashour was born in San Jose, California. He played for the San Jose Frogs in his youth, a team in the fourth tier of the US League system. He played there for a season before the team folded in 2008. 

After the Frogs, Steven was drafted by the San Jose Earthquake in the 2010 MLS Draft. He was only the second Iranian to play for the Earthquake, the first being Khodadad Azizi. Steven would be transferred to the Vancouver Whitecaps after three seasons, 87 games, and two goals for the Earthquake. 

His one-season tenure at the Whitecaps saw him be capped 54 times for the outfit, and go on to win the Canadian Championship. That was followed by one season at Toronto FC, where he won the MLS Cup, Supporters Shield, Canadian Championship, and then the Eastern Conference in 2016 and 2017. 

He then played a season for the LA Galaxy, getting capped 55 times and scoring three goals. In 2020, he was transferred to the Colorado Rapids, where he has played six times and is yet to score.

Iranian players have certainly left their mark on the world of football in the US and have also created a path for other players to make a move as well. While it can be difficult, these players have shown that it is undoubtedly worth it.