Iran Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Iran
Wondering what sports the Iranians like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Iran in this post. ⚽️
The Most Popular Iranian Sports
Find below Iran national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Football |
| 2 | Ancient wrestling |
| 3 | Polo |
| 4 | Volleyball |
| 5 | Basketball |
| 6 | Skiing |
So there you have them, the most popular sports in Iran! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Iran.
What is the National Sport of Iran?
The national sport of Iran is probably football.
And yes, “probably” sounds weird, but in fact, Iran has no national sport. Historically, it was considered to be freestyle wrestling, but nowadays football is far more popular, so it is probably the national sport of the country if we had to give it one.
Learn More About Iran Popular Sports
Iran is a country in Western Asia, and it is also called Persia. It is bordered by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iraq, and its capital city is Tehran, which counts more than 8,693,000 inhabitants (but more than 16,000,000 if you include the metropolitan area!).
An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all Iran popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Football
The most popular sport in Iran is football, by far.
The sport has been around in the country for at least 100 years, and it was brought to the country by British workers who settled in the country to extract oil.
The national football team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup 5 times: 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, and 2018. As you can see, it has recently become better and better. It has also won 4 gold medals at the Asian Games.
Number of Football licensed players in Iran: 449,644
Famous Iranian Football players: Ali Daei, Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Javad Nekounam, Karim Bagheri, Khodadad Azizi, Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, Nasser Hejazi, Ali Parvin, Sardar Azmoun
Ancient wrestling
The second most popular sport in Iran is ancient wrestling.
Maybe this will surprise you, but ancient wrestling is a very, very popular sport. In fact, it used to be the most popular sport until quite recently, but football has taken over.
There has always been a wide interest in martial arts in Iran. This dates back to very ancient times, as books and stories always featured some sort of wrestling. It was a huge part of men’s daily activities, as they would prepare for wars.
Famous Iranian Ancient wrestling players: Gholamreza Takhti, Hassan Yazdani, Hamid Sourian, Rasul Khadem Azgadhi, Alireza Dabir, Saeid Morad Abdvali, Alireza Heidari, Sadegh Goudarzi, Mansour Barzegar
Polo
The third most popular sport in Iran is polo.
Polo, while it is not practiced a lot in Iran, is extremely popular. The sport actually originates from the country and has been there since 600 BC. The Achaemenid princes used to sit on horses, wear military uniforms and play polo. It was also known as a game reserved for kings and nobles.
After 1860, it started becoming popular in countries like England, and the popularity of the sport started to decrease in its originating country, Iran.
Number of Polo licensed players in Iran: more than 100
Volleyball
The fourth most popular sport in Iran is volleyball.
If there is one sport where Iran has seen international success, it is definitely volleyball. The national men’s team is part of the top 10 teams in the world! More precisely, they are ranked 10th according to the FIVB World Ranking.
Their success is quite recent though, as they won many titles from 2009 to 2018: 2 Asian Cups, 2 Asian Games gold medals, a 4th place in the World League, and a 6th place in the World Cup.
Famous Iranian Volleyball players: Saeid Marouf, Mohammad Mousavi, Farhad Zarif, Mahta Mohammadi, Mostafa Sharifat, Ahsanollah Shirkavand, Farhad Salafzoon, Reza Safaei, Mohammad Javad Manavinejad
Basketball
The fifth most popular sport in Iran is basketball. Contrary to what you may think, the sport wasn’t introduced by an American, but by an Iranian student. He studied in Turkey where he learned basketball in high school.
The national basketball team obtained its license to participate in its first international competition in 1948, in the London Summer Olympic Games. It earned 14th place.
On an Asian scale, Iran’s basketball team is still one of the best. The national clubs have also started hiring great foreign players and coaches.
Famous Iranian Basketball players: Hamed Haddadi, Saeid Davarpanah, Mohammad Hassanzadeh, Arsalan Kazemi, Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, Hamed Sohrabnejad, Mehdi Kamrani
Skiing
The sixth and last most popular sport in Iran is skiing.
Finally, you might not expect skiing to be a thing in such a harsh country as Iran, but believe it or not, there are tons of mountainous regions where skiing is perfect. In fact, it is gaining more and more popularity among foreign visitors, who are starting to be more and more aware of how great skiing is in Iran.
The country has the world’s fifth-highest ski resort, the Tochal resort, where visitors can enjoy a splendid view of the dormant volcano Mount Damavand.
Famous Iranian Skiing players: Mohammad Kiyadarbandsari, Forough Abbasi, Seyed Sattar Seyd, Samaneh Beyrami Baher, Forough Abbasi, Mahmoud Beiglou, Pouria Saveh-Shemshaki
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Iran. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today. Keep reading to get a few more facts.
What sport was invented in Iran?
It is said that polo was first invented in old Iran, Persia, ages ago. Polo tournaments were described by poets as early as the 9th century. You can also find many traditional paintings that depict polo competitions in the country.
Chess could have also come from Iran, as its origin is disputed, but it was most likely invented in India before coming to Persia.
Which game is Alak dolak in Iran?
Alak dolak is a traditional Iranian game, but you can also find it in Afghanistan and other surrounding countries.
The name of the sport comes from a wooden peg, the “dolak”, which is placed on 2 bricks lying on the ground, parallel to each other, and the “alak”, a bigger stick which is held between the “dolak” and the ground. The goal of the game is to thrust the “alak” upwards, and to hit the “dolak” while it is airborne.
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Iran sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?
Then check out these posts:
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