2023–24 Esteghlal F.C. season
The 2023–24 Esteghlal Football Club season is the 78th season[1] and the club's 30th consecutive season in the top flight of Iranian football. In addition to the domestic league, Esteghlal are participating in this season's editions of the Hazfi Cup.
| 2023–24 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Ali Khatir | ||
| Head coach | Javad Nekounam | ||
| Stadium | Azadi Stadium | ||
| Persian Gulf Pro League | 2nd | ||
| Hazfi Cup | Round of 32 | ||
| Biggest win | Sanat Naft 0–3 Esteghlal | ||
|
| |||
| All statistics correct as of 28 October 2023. | |||
The club will not compete in the AFC Champions League (2023–24) after failing to obtain an AFC license.[2][3]
Summary
Pre-season
After Ricardo Sá Pinto's departure,[4][5] On 20 June 2023, Esteghlal announced that Javad Nekounam would take over the head coaching position.[6] On 1 July, Esteghlal announced the signing of Mehrdad Mohammadi on a free transfer from Al Sailiya. Mohammadi signed on a two-year contract.[7]
August
On 10 August, Esteghlal started their 2023–24 season with a 3–0 win at the Takhti, beating Sanat Naft in the first matchday of Persian Gulf Pro League.[8]
Players
- Last updated: 27 October 2023[9]
| No. | Name | Nat | Position | Date of Birth (Age) | Since | End | Signed from | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||||||||
| 1 | Hossein Hosseini (c) | GK | 30 June 1992 (aged 31) | 2012 | 2025 | |||||
| 12 | Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi | GK | 30 April 2001 (aged 22) | 2023 | 2026 | |||||
| 22 | Mohammad Javad Kia | GK | 29 August 2001 (aged 22) | 2023 | 2026 | |||||
| Defenders | ||||||||||
| 2 | Saleh Hardani | RB / RM | 14 September 1998 (aged 25) | 2022 | 2024 | |||||
| 3 | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | CB | 22 June 1993 (aged 30) | 2020 | 2025 | |||||
| 5 | Armin Sohrabian | CB / LB | 26 July 1995 (aged 28) | 2023 | 2025 | |||||
| 6 | Iman Salimi | CB | 1 June 1996 (aged 27) | 2023 | 2025 | |||||
| 17 | Jafar Salmani | LB / LW | 12 January 1997 (aged 26) | 2021 | 2023 | |||||
| 30 | Saman Touranian | RB | 12 November 2001 (aged 22) | 2023 | 2026 | |||||
| 33 | Abolfazl Jalali | LB / CB | 26 June 1998 (aged 25) | 2021 | 2024 | |||||
| Midfielders | ||||||||||
| 4 | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | DM / CB | 24 July 1993 (aged 30) | 2021 | 2024 | |||||
| 8 | Saeid Mehri | CM / AM | 16 September 1995 (aged 28) | 2021 | 2024 | |||||
| 9 | Mehdi Mehdipour | CM / DM / AM | 18 February 1994 (aged 29) | 2020 | 2024 | |||||
| 14 | Zobeir Niknafs | DM / CM | 12 April 1993 (aged 30) | 2021 | 2024 | |||||
| 26 | Omid Hamedifar | DM / CB | 20 August 2000 (aged 23) | 2022 | 2024 | |||||
| 80 | Mohammad Hossein Zavari | CM / AM | 11 January 2001 (aged 22) | 2022 | 2024 | |||||
| 88 | Arash Rezavand | AM / CM / DM | 5 October 1993 (aged 30) | 2019 | 2024 | |||||
| 99 | Amirali Sadeghi | LW / AM | 9 February 2001 (aged 22) | 2021 | 2024 | |||||
| Reza Mirzaei | RW / LW | 14 April 1996 (aged 27) | 2022 | 2024 | ||||||
| Forwards | ||||||||||
| 7 | Mehrdad Mohammadi | RW / CF / LW | 29 September 1993 (aged 30) | 2023 | 2025 | |||||
| 10 | Peyman Babaei | CF / LW / RW | 14 December 1994 (aged 29) | 2022 | 2024 | |||||
| 11 | Arthur Yamga | RW / LW / RB | 7 September 1996 (aged 27) | 2021 | 2025 | |||||
| 19 | Gustavo Blanco Leschuk | CF | 5 November 1991 (aged 32) | 2023 | 2025 | |||||
| 23 | Arman Ramezani | CF | 22 June 1992 (aged 31) | 2021 | 2024 | |||||
| 72 | Amir Arsalan Motahari | CF / RW | 10 March 1993 (aged 30) | 2020 | 2024 | |||||
Transfers
In
| Date | Pos. | Player | From | Type | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2023 | FW | Transfer | [10] | ||
| 2 July 2023 | DF | Gol Gohar | [11] | ||
| 16 July 2023 | DF | Mes Rafsanjan | [12] | ||
| 22 July 2023 | FW | Naft MIS | [13] | ||
| 22 July 2023 | GK | Havadar | [14] | ||
| 26 July 2023 | GK | Aluminium Arak | |||
| 3 August 2023 | MF | [15] | |||
| 21 August 2023 | DF | Mes Kerman | [16] | ||
| 30 August 2023 | FW | [17] | |||
| 30 August 2023 | GK | Aluminium Arak | [18] |
Out
| Date | Pos. | Player | To | Type | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 June 2023 | FW | Loan return | [19] | ||
| 1 June 2023 | FW | [20] | |||
| 24 June 2023 | DF | Unattached | Contract termination | [21] | |
| 30 June 2023 | DF | Unattached | End of contract | ||
| 11 July 2023 | GK | Havadar | [22] | ||
| 30 July 2023 | FW | Mes Rafsanjan | Transfer | [23] | |
| 6 August 2023 | DF | Esteghlal Khuzestan | [24] | ||
| 6 August 2023 | MF | Nassaji Mazandaran | [25] | ||
| 14 August 2023 | MF | Mes Rafsanjan | Loan | [26] | |
| 20 August 2023 | FW | Nassaji Mazandaran | Transfer | [27] | |
| 21 August 2023 | GK | Shams Azar | Loan | [28] | |
| 28 August 2023 | MF | Tractor | Transfer | [29] | |
| 5 September 2023 | MF | Zob Ahan | [30] | ||
| 1 September 2023 | GK | Paykan | |||
| 1 September 2023 | MF | Paykan | |||
| 10 October 2023 | GK | Shams Azar | [31] |
Contract renewals
| Date | Pos. | Name | Contract length | Contract ends | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 June 2023 | DF | N/A | N/A | [32] | |
| 11 July 2023 | DF | 2-year | 2025 | [33] | |
| 16 July 2023 | GK | 2-year | 2025 | [34] | |
| 8 August 2023 | DF | N/A | N/A | [35] | |
| 14 August 2023 | MF | 1-year | 2026 | [36] | |
| 16 August 2023 | MF | N/A | N/A | [37] |
Pre-season and friendlies
| 17 July 2023 Friendly | Esteghlal | 2–4 | Havadar | Tehran |
| 17:30 UTC+3:30 | Report |
|
Stadium: Nasser Hejazi Camp Referee: Shahin Yazdani |
| 23 July 2023 Friendly | Esteghlal | 1–1 | Aluminium Arak | Tehran |
| 17:45 UTC+3:30 | Report | Stadium: Dastgerdi |
| 11 August 2023 Friendly | Esteghlal | 2–2 | Shahr Raz | Tehran |
| Report |
|
Stadium: Nasser Hejazi Camp |
| 12 September 2023 Friendly | Esteghlal | 3–1 | Sanat Naft | Tehran |
| Report |
|
Stadium: Nasser Hejazi Camp |
Competitions
Overview
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Persian Gulf Pro League | 10 August 2023 | Matchday 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 85.71 | |
| Hazfi Cup | Round of 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | — | ||
| Total | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 85.71 | |||
Last updated: 28 October 2023
Source: Soccerway
Persian Gulf Pro League
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Persepolis | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 15[lower-alpha 1] | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite League stage |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 15 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite play-off round |
| 3 | Tractor | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 12 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League 2 group stage |
| 4 | Aluminium Arak | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 12 | |
| 5 | Sepahan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 11[lower-alpha 2] |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Total goal difference; 5) Total goals scored; 6) Play-off at neutral venue.
(Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).[40]
Notes:
Results summary
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 |
Source: Ipl Stats
Results by round
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed
Matches
The league fixtures were announced on 9 July.[41]
| 10 August 2023 1 | Sanat Naft | 0–3 | Esteghlal | Abadan |
| 21:30 UTC+3:30 |
|
Report | Stadium: Takhti Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Mouood Bonyadifar |
| 17 August 2023 2 | Esteghlal | 1–0 | Malavan | Tehran |
| 19:30 UTC+3:30 | Report |
|
Stadium: Azadi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referee: Seyed Reza Mahdavi |
| 23 August 2023 3 | Sepahan | 1–0 | Esteghlal | Isfahan |
| 20:00 UTC+3:30 |
|
Report | Stadium: Naghsh-e-Jahan Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Kopal Nazemi |
| 28 August 2023 4 | Esteghlal | 1–0 | Esteghlal Khuzestan | Tehran |
| 19:30 UTC+3:30 | Report | Stadium: Azadi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referee: Amir Saman Soltani |
| 14 December 2023 5 | Persepolis | v | Esteghlal | Tehran |
| 15:00 UTC+3:30 | Report | Stadium: Azadi |
| 20 October 2023 6 | Esteghlal | 3–2 | Havadar | Tehran |
| 18:00 UTC+3:30 | Report | Stadium: Azadi Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Bijan Heydari |
| 7 October 2023 7 | Mes Rafsanjan | 0–1 | Esteghlal | Rafsanjan |
| 17:45 UTC+3:30 |
|
Report | Stadium: Shohadaye Mes Rafsanjan Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Hassan Akrami |
| 27 October 2023 8 | Esteghlal | 1-0 | Aluminium Arak | Tehran |
| 18:00 UTC+3:30 | Report | Stadium: Azadi Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Seyed Reza Mahdavi |
| 2 November 2023 9 | Shams Azar | v | Esteghlal | Qazvin |
| 14:45 UTC+3:30 | Stadium: Sardar Azadegan |
| 25 November 2023 11 | Zob Ahan | v | Esteghlal | Fooladshahr |
| 17:30 UTC+3:30 | Stadium: Foolad Shahr |
| 9 December 2023 12 | Foolad | v | Esteghlal | Ahvaz |
| 17:45 UTC+3:30 | Stadium: Foolad Arena |
| 19 December 2023 13 | Esteghlal | v | Nassaji Mazandaran | Tehran |
| 17:30 UTC+3:30 | Stadium: Azadi |
| 24 December 2023 14 | Gol Gohar | v | Esteghlal | Sirjan |
| 15:00 UTC+3:30 | Stadium: Qasem Soleimani |
| 16 | Esteghlal | v | Sanat Naft | Tehran |
| Stadium: Azadi |
| 17 | Malavan | v | Esteghlal | Bandar-e Anzali |
| Stadium: Sirous Ghayeghran |
| 19 | Esteghlal Khuzestan | v | Esteghlal | Ahvaz |
| Stadium: Ghadir |
| 20 | Esteghlal | v | Persepolis | Tehran |
| Stadium: Azadi |
| 22 | Esteghlal | v | Mes Rafsanjan | Tehran |
| Stadium: Azadi |
| 23 | Aluminium Arak | v | Esteghlal | Arak |
| Stadium: Imam Khomeini |
| 24 | Esteghlal | v | Shams Azar | Tehran |
| Stadium: Azadi |
| 25 | Tractor | v | Esteghlal | Tabriz |
| Stadium: Shahid Qasem Soleimani |
| 28 | Nassaji Mazandaran | v | Esteghlal | Qaem Shahr |
| Stadium: Vatani |
Hazfi Cup
Esteghlal will enter the tournament in the round of 32.
Statistics
Squad statistics
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| 1 | GK | Hossein Hosseini | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | DF | Saleh Hardani | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | DF | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | MF | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | DF | Armin Sohrabian | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | DF | Iman Salimi | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | FW | Mehrdad Mohammadi | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | MF | Saeid Mehri | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | MF | Mehdi Mehdipour | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | FW | Peyman Babaei | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | FW | Arthur Yamga | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | MF | Zobeir Niknafs | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | MF | Jafar Salmani | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | FW | Arman Ramezani | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | MF | Omid Hamedifar | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | DF | Abolfazl Jalali | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 72 | FW | Arsalan Motahari | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 79 | MF | Sobhan Khaghani | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 80 | MF | Mohammad Hossein Zavari | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 88 | MF | Arash Rezavand | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 99 | MF | Amirali Sadeghi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Last updated: 28 October 2023
Source: Competitions
Goals
The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rank | Player | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | |||
| 1 | 0 | |||
| 1 | 0 | |||
| 1 | 0 | |||
| 1 | 0 | |||
| Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 10 | 0 | 10 | |
Last updated: 28 October 2023.
Source: Competitive matches
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Total | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
Last updated: 28 October 2023.
Source: Competitive matches
Notes
- The match was played behind closed doors due to the repairs and reconstruction of the stadium.
References
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- "استقلال مجوز حرفهای نگرفت". ISNA (in Persian).
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- "Sa Pinto Bids Farewell to Esteghlal". Tasnim News Agency. 8 June 2023.
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- "ESTEGHLAL FC". soccerway.
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- "قرارداد جدید سعید مهری با استقلال امضا شد". طرفداری (in Persian).
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- "فوری؛ با رای کمیته انضباطی، چهار امتیاز از سپاهان کسر شد". طرفداری.
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- "برنامه کامل فصل بیست و سوم لیگ برتر فوتبال". ISNA (in Persian).