Jalal Hosseini (جلال حسینی) is an Iranian central defender from Bandar Anzali. Born in 1982, he predominantly played domestically for a variety of teams while also having a stint in Qatar. He represented Iran in the Asian Games (as an overage player), the Asian Championship and the World Cup.
Hosseini began his career with the youth team of his hometown club Malavan before graduating to the main team in 2001. In his first season in the Persian Gulf League he would eventually begin to get playing time in the final few months where Malavan finished one spot above the relegation zone. The following season he would only miss 2 games but in a stroke of bad luck Malavan would level on points with Abu Moslem and Naft of Abadan and finish dead last on goal difference and as such be relegated to the Azadegan League. He would remain with Malavan in the second division while retaining his starting spot and ultimately bouncing back to the Persian Gulf League after finishing in second place. The 2004-05 season would be Hosseini’s last with Malavan as he would feature in every game, scoring twice in the process and finishing in a respectable 7th place. During his stint at Malavan Hosseini had the opportunity to join Persepolis but a misunderstanding robbed him of this opportunity. While Persepolis coach, Parvin, had asked the club to bring in the central defender Hosseini, the Abu Moslem central defender Mohammad Hosseini was brought in instead causing Parvin to comment, “I didn’t want this Hosseini, I wanted the bald one.”
Hosseini would move to Saipa in the summer of 2005. In his first season he would only miss the final 2 games as Saipa would go on to finish in third place. He continued his solid performance for Saipa during the 2006–07 season in which he won the league and qualified Saipa for the AFC Champions League. With Hosseini a constant presence, Saipa would top its group undefeated in the 2007-08 Champions League although they would crash out in the quarterfinals against Uzbek competition. Hosseini would remain another 2 seasons with Saipa where they would finish mid table in both seasons.
Hosseini would signed with Sepahan in the summer of 2009 for a remarkable 3 year stint that would land him a hatrick of 3 consecutive Persian Gulf League championships. As a result Hosseini would participate in the 2010 (as a result of finishing fourth the prior season before Hosseini’s arrival), 2011 and 2012 Champions League. Hosseini would appear in 22 games, scoring twice, although Sepahan would never advance beyond the quarterfinals.
After 122 games, Hosseini left Sepahan prior to the 2012-13 season to join Persepolis. He would remain with Persepolis for 2 seasons. While a mid-table finish in his first season was disappointing, he would win a silver medal in the 2013-14 season and enable Persepolis to qualify for the Champions League.
In July of 2014 Hosseini would make his lone venture abroad joining Qatar Stars League's Al-Ahli on a one-year contract. He would represent them 26 times, helping them to a fifth place league finish before returning to Iran and Naft of Tehran.
His stay at Naft would also be brief. While he would miss 10 games mid season, he would guide Naft to a fifth place finish. In addition, as a result of Naft finishing third the prior season, Hosseini would once again face international competition in the Champions League although it would be a single 2-0 loss to Al Jaish of Qatar.
For the 2016-17 season and at age 34, Hosseini would begin a second stint at Persepolis stretching 6 seasons which would net him a barrage of trophies. He would win the league in each of his first 5 seasons while finishing runner-up in the 2021-22 season. In addition he would win 4 straight Super Cups from 2017 to 2020 along with the 2018-19 Hazfi Cup. From 2017 through 2021, Hosseini would participate in 5 consecutive AFC Champions Leagues, reaching the Final twice in 2018 and 2020 in a losing effort. At the end of the 2021-22 season, with 643 club games under his belt and 30 goals, Hosseini would hang his boots at age 40.
Hosseini received his first taste of international competition with the Iranian U23 during the 2005 West Asian Games which was in essence was a test run for Qatar hosting the Asian Games the following year. Hosseini would play every minute of all 4 games as Iran would finish in third place. Almost a year later he would once again represent the U23s (albeit as an overage player), scoring an equalizer in overtime against China in the quarterfinals and converting his penalty in the shootout as Iran would win bronze.
His full international debut would be the following year as he come on at halftime during a friendly against Belarus. Hosseini would gain further experience playing in and winning the 2007 West Asian Championship in addition to an 8-1 demolition of Jamaica. He would be selected for the 2007 Asian Championship. He would score Iran’s first goal of the tournament in a 2-1 win against Uzbekistan. While Hosseini would not see any time on the bench in Iran’s 4 games, however, Iran would go out to South Korea on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.
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Following the Asian Championship Hosseini would retain his spot in the squad. He would participate in both the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and the 2011 Asian Championship qualifiers. While he would assist Iran in qualifying for the latter, however, Iran would just come up short for the 2010 World Cup although Hosseini would score against Kuwait in a 2-2 tie. Hosseini would take part in the 2010 West Asian Championship where he would net the game winner in the semifinals against Iraq although he would have to settle on a silver medal after losing the Final to Kuwait.
Hosseini would once again be called up as an overage player in the 2010 Asian Games. He would be a fixed player in the backline throughout the tournament as Iran would finish in fourth place. More impressively he would emerge as Iran’s joint top scorer (along with Ansarifard) by netting against Turkmenistan (twice), Vietnam and Malaysia.
At the start of 2011 Iran participated in the 2011 Asian Championship. Wins against Iraq and North Korea guaranteed advancement and as such Hosseini was benched for the inconsequential final game against the UAE (along with other starters). Hosseini would return to the lineup for the quarterfinal game against South Korea although the Koreans would prevail 1-0 in overtime.
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The 2014 World Cup qualifiers would begin shortly afterwards. Hosseini would be a constant presence in Iran’s backline. He would score the opener in a first round group 6-0 hammering of Bahrain while in the subsequent round a 1-0 away loss to Lebanon would occur in his absence. A dramatic final day away win against South Korea would secure Iran’s spot in the 2014 World Cup. In the midst of this qualifying campaign, Iran would also attempt to qualify for the 2015 Asian Championship. He would be present during the first 5 games, scoring in a win against Thailand and sit out the final game against Kuwait as Iran qualified for the 2015 Asian Championship.
Hosseini would make Iran’s roster for the 2014 World Cup. He would play every minute and would come close to scoring against Argentina with a header. In the final group game, with Iran down 1-0 against Bosnia and needing a win to advance, a giveaway by Hosseini enabled Bosnia to double their lead enroute to an ultimate 3-1 loss and group elimination.
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Six months later Iran would take part in the 2015 Asian Championship where Hosseini would once again play every minute and maintain 3 clean sheets in group play. Playing a man down against Iraq in the quarterfinals and trailing 3-2 with only 2 minutes left in overtime, Hosseini would slam his shot under the crossbar and over the line although it would not be given. Lucky for him and his teammates. Ghoochannejad would head home the rebound to equalize and take the game to penalties. While Hosseini would convert his kick but ultimately Iran would lose and be eliminated.
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With his advanced age Hosseini began to lose his grip on his starting spot at the beginning of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign. He would play in 5 of the 8 first round games, allowing only one goal while also scoring an equalizer against Oman. He wrestled his spot back in the next round, guiding Iran to 5 clean sheets while scoring the game winner against Uzbekistan. However, he would play only one of the return matches as Iran qualified for the 2018 World Cup. He would be called up and play in friendlies in late 2017 but be on the bench in 2018 except for a lone game against Uzbekistan which would prove to be his last cap. Despite calls to have him included in the 2018 World Cup roster, he would watch the games from home. Some attributed his omission to conflicts between Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic and national team coach Carlos Queiroz. He would later comment, “Every player dreams of playing in a World Cup in their career. I experienced that once in the 2014 World Cup and I tried very hard to play in the World Cup once again but it didn’t happen. I want to thank all the people that helped me, especially my wife who has always supported me.” He ended his international career with 115 caps and 8 goals.
Following Hosseini’s retirement in 2022, he acted as assistant coach for Persepolis although he would leave his position in January of 2025 due to disagreements with incoming coach Ismail Kartal.
