2015 Asian Championship (January 2015)

With little time in between the World Cup and the Asian Championship, there was not much change to Iran’s roster. Nekounam still captained the side while Haghighi remained the first choice keeper although his backups were now Beiranvand and Forouzan. In addition to Nekounam the midfield also boasted stalwarts Teymourian and Dejagah while Ghoochannejad was the heart of the attack.Young newcomers Pouraliganji in defense and Azmoun at forward also made the squad. Iran warmed up for the tournament with only two games against South Korea and Iraq, both 1-0 games and Azmoun bagging both goals. The games took place in Australia with Iran being grouped with Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.

Hoping to end a 39-year wait for a fourth title, the first since 1976, Iran tried to take charge from the start against Bahrain. 

Bahrain nearly took the early lead when Nigerian born striker Jaycee Okwunwanne volleyed a poor attempt at a clearance but sent the shot wide of the left post. Later Shubbar ghosted into the area unmarked in the 16^th minute to latch onto a superbly weighted ball from Sami Al Husaini but he made an absolute mess of the header, sending it soaring over the crossbar. Iran could have made Bahrain pay when Shojaei crossed from the left to Dejagah in the area who had only to beat the keeper but waited too long for his shot and it was well cut off by keeper Abbas. However, Hajsafi produced a moment of magic with almost the last kick of the first half, expertly trapping a clearance from Teymourian’s corner kick with his left foot before smashing a looping ball over the keeper with the outside of his right boot from just outside the box, raising thunderous cheers from a 17,000 crowd dominated by Iranian fans. 

Early in the second half Ghoochannejad appeared to be incorrectly flagged for offside for a second time when through on goal, before Okwunwanne almost emulated Hajsafi with a ferocious drive to which Haghighi reacted brilliantly to keep it out. Tempers flared when Haghighi barged into Faouzi Aaish, Bahrain's waspish playermaker who was a thorn in Iran's side the entire game. But moments later Shojaei popped up to steer a right-foot shot just inside the post from another Teymourian corner kick to trigger wild celebrations from a boisterous crowd of Iranian fans at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. With a final 2-0 win Iran took a great step towards advancing from and topping the group.

A crowd of 22,672 traveled out to Stadium Australia, with the vast majority backing Iran and turning the iconic venue into a mini Azadi Stadium to watch Iran take on Qatar. 

The young Azmoun would take Ghoochannejad’s spot upfront but otherwise the lineup remained unchanged. While the game began sluggish, Iran steadily took control by the end of the half. Iran first threatened when Dejagah stumbled his way past Abdelkarim Hassan before pulling the ball back for Shojaei, but the ball was cleared before he could pull the trigger. Shojaei was involved again five minutes from the break but his effort was deflected wide for a corner. Teymourian took the ensuing corner kick but Pouraliganji’s header was cleared off the line by Ahmed Mohamed El Sayed. With little time left Dejagah fired a volley wide from a tight angle and Hajsafi was too slow to poke it in the net as it harmlessly flew across the face of the goal. Seven minutes after the restart Iran finally took the lead when Teymourian won the ball in the Qatari half, laid off the ball to Dejagah who then fed Azmoun. Azmoun bamboozled the defense with a brilliant turn before slipping the ball past the keeper to send the Iranian team into a bench-clearing celebration and the Iranian fans Iran fans into raptures. 

Azmoun would not finish the game, going off injured 10 minutes after his goal. His replacement Ghoochannejad had his chances to add to Iran’s lead, shooting wide from just outside the box and firing straight at the keeper minutes later. Qatar's last chance for an equalizer came in injury time but their striker was called offside as his header hit the post. In the end in a game that Haghighi was barely troubled Iran won 1-0, mathematically clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.

With qualification clinched, Iran faced the also qualified UAE to determine first and second place in the group and subsequently the prospect of a better route to the Final. 

The game was marked by Iran's defensive resolve which prevented the UAE from having a single shot on target. Iran felt like they should have had a penalty when Azmoun went down under a challenge from the keeper but the ref waived it off. Jahanbakhsh could have given Iran the lead in the 18^th minute but his header went high. Iran went close again at the end of the half but Azmoun's header at the right hand post was cleared wide in the nick of time. Azmoun continued to cause problems for the UAE defense as he rose to meet Teymourian's corner but the delivery was just two high and he skewed his header wide. While Iran had rested key players Dejagah and Ghoochannejad, they were both brought in in the second half to inject some steam into Iran’s offensive punch. From a Dejagah corner kick, the keeper did well to direct Pouraliganji’s header over the bar. With time running out and the two teams seemingly settling on a draw, Teymourian unintentionally hit a half-clearance back into the box in the 91^st minute for Ghoochannejad to nod it in from close range as the predominantly Iranian crowd went wild. UAE appealed for offside although replays showed that the goal was correct. 

Iran finished with maximum points from the group and three clean sheets.

In the quarterfinals Iran faced Iraq, an opponent they had defeated just prior to the tournament. 

The opening spells of the match were frenetic and furious but amounted to little before a typical driving run down the right from Dejagah was brought to a halt through a firm tackle. With the ref allowing Iran to play the advantage, Ghafouri pounced on the loose ball and whipped in a venomous cross that Azmoun met with a thumping header into the bottom corner of the goal to give Iran the lead.

As the first half drew to a close Pouladi chased down a ball that the Iraqi keeper scooped up although this did not deter Pouladi from trying to nick it away at the last moment. With the keeper taking exception to this he stood up, got in Pouladi’s face and gave him a slight shove. Pouladi went down and to the surprise of all the ref, Ben Williams. issued Pouladi a yellow card for stimulation. Once Iraqi players reminded the ref that Pouladi already had received a card, Pouladi was sent off and Iran was forced to go into the break a man down. 

Iran nearly conceded at the beginning of the second half when Yasir Kasim’s freekick was athletically saved by a Haghighi who launched himself to his left to tip the ball over the bar. But at the 56^th minute Iraq equalized when a cross from the left wing evaded defenders and attackers alike before Yasin latched onto the ball at the far post and drove his low angled shot through a group of players and into the net. Playing a man down and with Iraq showcasing their dominance, Iran held on to finish the 90 minutes tied and try their luck in extra time. The deadlock was broken in just the second minute of extra time as a cross from Ismail saw the ball clip off Haghighi’s outstretched leg and be pounced upon by Mahmood whose stopping header found the back of the net to put Iraq 2-1 up. With three minutes of the first half of extra-time remaining Iran tied it up when Pouraliganji thundered home Teymourian’s corner with a bullet header. The defender went from hero to villain with five minutes remaining as his crunching tackle on Kasim saw a penalty awarded to Iraq. Ismail sent his spot-kick down the middle of the goal with Haghighi already committed to his right. 

But with two minutes remaining there was a further twist to the tail as once again from a Teymourian corner, Iran caused consternation in the Iraq defense. With even Haghighi in the opponent’s box, Nekounam’s header bounced off of Ghoochannejad’s knee and was cleared off the line, Hosseini slammed the rebound under the crossbar (although replays showed it had actually crossed the line) and Ghoochannejad was on hand to head home the rebound to take the game to penalties. 

Hajsafi blasted his opening spot kick over the crossbar for Iran, but Saad Abdulamir was unable to take advantage and hit his own effort wide. The next six rounds of shots were converted until Amiri hit the post in sudden death, Shakir kept his composure to beat Haghighi and thus eliminate Iran. 

After the match Queiroz, who was fined after criticizing Williams earlier in the Asian Cup when he officiated Iran against Bahrain, decided to bite his tongue. "I don't have any comments about Mr. Williams," he said "Because, if I make comments today, I finish my career.” Almost immediately Iran protested to the AFC over Iraq’s use of midfielder Alaa Abdul-Zahra, who had been convicted of doping whilst playing in Iran the prior August. The case had been passed on to FIFA and reportedly was simply not followed up by the Iraqi FA, who utilized him in the national team ever since. After two days of assessment, the AFC decided to reject the appeal, 24 hours ahead of the semifinal clash which took place with Iraq facing South Korea.

Iran roster: Haghighi, Beiranvand, Forouzan, Heydari, Hajsafi, Hosseini, Pouraliganji, Ghafouri, Rezaian, Pooladi, Khanzadeh, Sadeghi, Nekounam, Shojaei, Ebrahimi, Amiri, Teymourian, Rafiei, Jahanbakhsh, Dejagah, Ansarifard, Azmoun, Ghoochannejad. Coach: Querioz