# 2023–24 Esteghlal F.C. season

The 2023–24 Esteghlal Football Club season is the 78th season 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.
The club will not compete in the AFC Champions League (2023–24) after failing to obtain an AFC license.

## Summary
### Pre-season

After Ricardo Sá Pinto's departure, On 20 June 2023, Esteghlal announced that Javad Nekounam would take over the head coaching position. On 1 July, Esteghlal announced the signing of Mehrdad Mohammadi on a free transfer from Al Sailiya. Mohammadi signed on a two-year contract.

### 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.

## Players

    Last updated: 16 February 2024 (2024-02-16)
| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth (Age) | Since | End | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| 1 | Hossein Hosseini (c) | GK | (1992-06-30)30 June 1992 (aged 31) | 2012 | 2025 | Youth Sector |
| 12 | Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi | GK | (2001-04-30)30 April 2001 (aged 22) | 2023 | 2026 | Havadar |
| 22 | Mohammad Javad Kia | GK | (2001-08-29)29 August 2001 (aged 22) | 2023 | 2026 | Aluminium |
| Defenders ||||||||
| 2 | Saleh Hardani | RB / RM | (1998-09-14)14 September 1998 (aged 25) | 2022 | 2024 | Foolad |
| 3 | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | CB | (1993-06-22)22 June 1993 (aged 30) | 2020 | 2025 | Shahr Khodro |
| 5 | Armin Sohrabian | CB | (1995-07-26)26 July 1995 (aged 28) | 2023 | 2025 | Gol Gohar |
| 6 | Iman Salimi | CB | (1996-06-01)1 June 1996 (aged 27) | 2023 | 2025 | Mes Rafsanjan |
| 17 | Jafar Salmani | LB / LW | (1997-01-12)12 January 1997 (aged 26) | 2021 | 2024 | Portimonense |
| 30 | Saman Touranian | RB | (2001-11-12)12 November 2001 (aged 22) | 2023 | 2026 | Mes Kerman |
| 33 | Abolfazl Jalali | LB / CB | (1998-06-26)26 June 1998 (aged 25) | 2021 | 2024 | Saipa |
| 34 | Milad Fakhreddini | RB | (1990-05-26)26 May 1990 (aged 33) | 2024 | 2025 | Aluminium Arak |
| 55 | Raphael Silva | CB | (1992-04-20)20 April 1992 (aged 31) | 2024 | 2025 | Unattached |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| 4 | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | DM / CB | (1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (aged 30) | 2021 | 2024 | Umm Salal |
| 9 | Mehdi Mehdipour | CM / DM / AM | (1994-02-18)18 February 1994 (aged 29) | 2020 | 2024 | Zob Ahan |
| 14 | Zobeir Niknafs | DM / CM | (1993-04-12)12 April 1993 (aged 30) | 2021 | 2024 | Foolad |
| 26 | Omid Hamedifar | DM / CB | (2000-08-20)20 August 2000 (aged 23) | 2022 | 2024 | Sanat Naft |
| 80 | Mohammad Hossein Zavari | CM / AM | (2001-01-11)11 January 2001 (aged 22) | 2022 | 2024 | Sanat Naft |
| 88 | Arash Rezavand | AM / CM / DM | (1993-10-05)5 October 1993 (aged 30) | 2019 | 2024 | Saipa |
| 99 | Amirali Sadeghi | LW / AM | (2001-02-09)9 February 2001 (aged 22) | 2021 | 2024 | Saipa |
| Forwards ||||||||
| 7 | Mehrdad Mohammadi | CF / RW | (1993-09-29)29 September 1993 (aged 30) | 2023 | 2025 | Al Sailiya |
| 10 | Peyman Babaei | CF / LW / RW | (1994-12-14)14 December 1994 (aged 29) | 2022 | 2024 | Tractor |
| 19 | Gustavo Blanco | CF | (1991-11-05)5 November 1991 (aged 32) | 2023 | 2025 | Eibar |
| 23 | Arman Ramezani | CF | (1992-06-22)22 June 1992 (aged 31) | 2021 | 2024 | Persepolis |
| 77 | Jaloliddin Masharipov | LW / RW | (1993-09-01)1 September 1993 (aged 30) | 2024 | 2025 | Panserraikos |
| Players transferred during the season ||||||||
| 8 | Saeid Mehri | CM / AM | (1995-09-16)16 September 1995 (aged 28) | 2021 | 2024 | Tractor |
| 11 | Arthur Yamga | RW / RB | (1996-09-07)7 September 1996 (aged 27) | 2021 | 2025 | Vejle |
| 72 | Arsalan Motahari | CF / RW | (1993-03-10)10 March 1993 (aged 30) | 2020 | 2024 | Zob Ahan |
| 79 | Sobhan Khaghani | RW / AM | (1993-03-10)10 March 1993 (aged 30) | 2020 | 2024 | Tractor |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Player | From | Type |
| 30 June 2023 (2023-06-30) | MF | Erfan Bagheri | Saipa | End of loan |
| 1 July 2023 (2023-07-01) | FW | Mehrdad Mohammadi | Al Sailiya | Transfer |
| 2 July 2023 (2023-07-02) | DF | Armin Sohrabian | Gol Gohar | Transfer |
| 16 July 2023 (2023-07-16) | DF | Iman Salimi | Mes Rafsanjan | Transfer |
| 22 July 2023 (2023-07-22) | FW | Aria Barzegar | Naft MIS | Transfer |
| 22 July 2023 (2023-07-22) | GK | Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi | Havadar | Transfer |
| 26 July 2023 (2023-07-26) | GK | Matin Mohtasham | Aluminium Arak | Transfer |
| 3 August 2023 (2023-08-03) | MF | Muntadher Mohammed | Al-Naft | Transfer |
| 21 August 2023 (2023-08-21) | DF | Saman Touranian | Mes Kerman | Transfer |
| 30 August 2023 (2023-08-30) | FW | Gustavo Blanco | Eibar | Transfer |
| 30 August 2023 (2023-08-30) | GK | Mohammad Javad Kia | Aluminium Arak | Transfer |
| 4 January 2024 (2024-01-04) | DF | Raphael Silva | Unattached | Transfer |
| 4 February 2024 (2024-02-04) | FW | Jaloliddin Masharipov | Panserraikos | Transfer |
| 14 February 2024 (2024-02-14) | DF | Milad Fakhreddini | Aluminium Arak | Transfer |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | To | Type |
| 1 June 2023 (2023-06-01) | FW | Mohammad Mohebi | Santa Clara | Loan return |
| 1 June 2023 (2023-06-01) | FW | Mehdi Ghayedi | Shabab Al Ahli | Loan return |
| 24 June 2023 (2023-06-24) | DF | Raphael Silva | Unattached | Contract termination |
| 11 July 2023 (2023-07-11) | GK | Arsha Shakouri | Havadar | End of contract |
| 30 July 2023 (2023-07-30) | FW | Sajjad Shahbazzadeh | Mes Rafsanjan | Transfer |
| 6 August 2023 (2023-08-06) | DF | Amirhossein Jalalivand | Esteghlal Khuzestan | Transfer |
| 6 August 2023 (2023-08-06) | MF | Mohammad Reza Torabi | Nassaji Mazandaran | Transfer |
| 14 August 2023 (2023-08-14) | MF | Muntadher Mohammed | Mes Rafsanjan | Loan |
| 20 August 2023 (2023-08-20) | FW | Aria Barzegar | Nassaji Mazandaran | Transfer |
| 21 August 2023 (2023-08-21) | GK | Sina Saeidifar | Shams Azar | Loan |
| 28 August 2023 (2023-08-28) | MF | Morteza Javaheri | Tractor | Transfer |
| 1 September 2023 (2023-09-01) | GK | Mohammad Reza Dinarvand | Paykan | Transfer |
| 1 September 2023 (2023-09-01) | MF | Amirhossein Parniaei | Paykan | Transfer |
| 5 September 2023 (2023-09-05) | MF | Sobhan Khaghani | Zob Ahan | Transfer |
| 27 September 2023 (2023-09-27) | GK | Matin Mohtasham | Naft MIS | Transfer |
| 3 October 2023 (2023-10-03) | MF | Erfan Bagheri | Paykan | Transfer |
| 17 January 2024 (2024-01-17) | GK | Alireza Rezaei | Nassaji Mazandaran | Transfer |
| 29 January 2024 (2024-01-29) | MF | Saeid Mehri | APOEL | Transfer |
| 31 January 2024 (2024-01-31) | FW | Hesam Eskandari | Shahrdari Astara | Loan |
| 25 February 2024 (2024-02-25) | DF | Aref Gholami | Velež Mostar | End of contract |
| 25 February 2024 (2024-02-25) | FW | Arsalan Motahari | Tractor | Transfer |

### Contract renewals

| Date | Pos. | Name | Contract length | Contract ends |
| 25 June 2023 (2023-06-25) | DF | Jafar Salmani | N/A | N/A |
| 11 July 2023 (2023-07-11) | DF | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 2-year | 2025 |
| 16 July 2023 (2023-07-16) | GK | Hossein Hosseini | 2-year | 2025 |
| 8 August 2023 (2023-08-08) | DF | Abolfazl Jalali | N/A | N/A |
| 14 August 2023 (2023-08-14) | MF | Muntadher Mohammed | 1-year | 2026 |
| 16 August 2023 (2023-08-16) | MF | Saeid Mehri | N/A | N/A |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Persian Gulf Pro League | 10 August 2023 (2023-08-10) | 1 June 2024 (2024-06-01) | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 30 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 40 | 15 | +25 | 063.33 |
| Hazfi Cup | 4 March 2024 (2024-03-04) | 4 March 2024 (2024-03-04) | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 31 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 40 | 17 | +23 | 061.29 |
Last updated: 1 June 2024 (2024-06-01) Source: Soccerway

### Persian Gulf Pro League
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Persepolis (C) | 30 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 45 | 18 | +27 | 68 | Qualification for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite League stage |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 30 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 40 | 15 | +25 | 67 | Qualification for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite League stage |
| 3 | Sepahan | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 53 | 26 | +27 | 57 | Qualification for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite qualifying play-offs |
| 4 | Tractor | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 42 | 22 | +20 | 54 | Qualification for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two group stage |
| 5 | Zob Ahan | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 42 | |
* ↑ Qualified as the 2023–24 Hazfi Cup winners.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Ipl Stats

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 9 July.

### Hazfi Cup
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Pro League | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Hazfi Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Hossein Hosseini | 30 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Saleh Hardani | 26 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 17 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | 29 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Armin Sohrabian | 18 | 4 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Iman Salimi | 22 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Mehrdad Mohammadi | 28 | 8 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | | Mehdi Mehdipour | 23 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Peyman Babaei | 19 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | | Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Zobeir Niknafs | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | | Jafar Salmani | 24 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | | Gustavo Blanco | 25 | 6 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | | Arman Ramezani | 28 | 3 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | | Omid Hamedifar | 23 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | | Saman Touranian | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Abolfazl Jalali | 30 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | | Milad Fakhreddini | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 55 | DF | | Raphael Silva | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | | Jaloliddin Masharipov | 15 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 80 | MF | | Mohammad Hossein Zavari | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | | Arash Rezavand | 30 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 99 | MF | | Amirali Sadeghi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players transferred/loaned out during the season ||||||||||
| 8 | MF | | Saeid Mehri | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | | Arthur Yamga | 15 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | FW | | Arsalan Motahari | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 | MF | | Sobhan Khaghani | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 1 June 2024 (2024-06-01) Source: Competitions

### Goals

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rank | Player | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Total |
| 1 | Mehrdad Mohammadi | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Gustavo Blanco | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Arthur Yamga | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Armin Sohrabian | 4 | 0 | | 4 |
| 4 | Arman Ramezani | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Iman Salimi | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Jaloliddin Masharipov | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Saleh Hardani | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Peyman Babaei | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Abolfazl Jalali | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Arsalan Motahari | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Arash Rezavand | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 40 | 0 | 40 |
Last updated: 1 June 2024 (2024-06-01). Source: Competitive matches

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Total |
| 1 | Hossein Hosseini | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| 2 | Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 19 | 0 | 19 |
Last updated: 1 June 2024 (2024-06-01). Source: Competitive matches