# 2020–21 Esteghlal F.C. season

The 2020–21 Esteghlal Football Club season is the club's 75th season in existence and the 27th consecutive season in the top flight of Iranian football. In addition to the domestic league, Esteghlal participates in this season's editions of the Hazfi Cup, and the AFC Champions League.

## Players
### First team squad

    Last updated: 28 February 2021 (2021-02-28)
| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth (Age) | Since | End | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| 1 | Hossein Hosseini | GK | (1992-06-30)30 June 1992 (aged 28) | 2012 | 2021 | Youth Sector |
| 12 | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | GK | (1989-05-18)18 May 1989 (aged 31) | 2020 | 2022 | Tractor |
| 90 | Sina Saeidifar | GK | (2001-04-12)12 April 2001 (aged 19) | 2020 | 2024 | Youth Sector |
| Defenders ||||||||
| 2 | Mohammad Naderi | LB / CB | (1996-10-05)5 October 1996 (aged 24) | 2020 | 2021 | Kortrijk |
| 3 | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | CB | (1993-06-22)22 June 1993 (aged 27) | 2020 | 2022 | Shahr Khodro |
| 4 | Siavash Yazdani | CB | (1992-03-02)2 March 1992 (aged 28) | 2019 | 2021 | Sepahan |
| 5 | Aref Gholami | CB / RB | (1997-04-19)19 April 1997 (aged 23) | 2019 | 2022 | Foolad |
| 20 | Ahmad Mousavi | RB / RW | (1992-02-04)4 February 1992 (aged 28) | 2020 | 2022 | Gol Gohar |
| 21 | Vouria Ghafouri | RB / RW | (1987-09-20)20 September 1987 (aged 33) | 2016 | 2022 | Sepahan |
| 27 | Matin Karimzadeh | LB / LM | (1998-07-01)1 July 1998 (aged 22) | 2020 | 2023 | Pars Jonoubi |
| 33 | Hrvoje Milić | LB / LM | (1989-05-10)10 May 1989 (aged 31) | 2019 | 2021 | Crotone |
| 70 | Mohammad Daneshgar | CB / RB | (1994-01-20)20 January 1994 (aged 26) | 2018 | 2022 | Saipa |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| 6 | Masoud Rigi | DM / CM | (1991-02-22)22 February 1991 (aged 29) | 2019 | 2021 | Shahr Khodro |
| 8 | Farshid Esmaeili | AM / LW / RW | (1994-02-23)23 February 1994 (aged 26) | 2015 | 2021 | Fajr Sepasi |
| 9 | Mehdi Mehdipour | CM / DM | (1994-02-18)18 February 1994 (aged 26) | 2020 | 2023 | Zob Ahan |
| 11 | Dariush Shojaeian | AM / RW / LW | (1992-04-07)7 April 1992 (aged 28) | 2017 | 2021 | Gostaresh Foulad |
| 15 | Sina Khadempour | DM / CB | (1997-01-09)9 January 1997 (aged 23) | 2017 | 2023 | Naft Tehran |
| 22 | Babak Moradi | LW / LB | (1993-07-29)29 July 1993 (aged 27) | 2020 | 2022 | Machine Sazi |
| 66 | Saeid Mehri | CM / DM | (1995-09-16)16 September 1995 (aged 25) | 2021 | 2023 | Tractor |
| 79 | Sobhan Khaghani | RW / RB | (2000-01-27)27 January 2000 (aged 20) | 2020 | 2025 | Tractor |
| 88 | Arash Rezavand | AM / CM / RW | (1993-10-05)5 October 1993 (aged 27) | 2019 | 2021 | Saipa |
| Forwards ||||||||
| 7 | Cheick Diabaté | CF | (1988-04-25)25 April 1988 (aged 32) | 2019 | 2021 | Osmanlıspor |
| 10 | Mehdi Ghayedi | CF / SS / LW | (1998-12-05)5 December 1998 (aged 22) | 2017 | 2023 | Iranjavan |
| 17 | Arman Ramezani | CF | (1992-06-22)22 June 1992 (aged 28) | 2021 | 2022 | Persepolis |
| 72 | Arsalan Motahari | CF / RW | (1993-03-10)10 March 1993 (aged 27) | 2020 | 2021 | Zob Ahan |
| Players transferred during the season ||||||||
| 14 | Farshid Bagheri | DM / CM | (1992-06-05)5 June 1992 (aged 28) | 2016 | 2021 | Saba Qom |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends |
| 40 | AM | Amir Hossein Khodamoradi | 19 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2023 |
| 41 | RB | Arash Dajliri | 21 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2023 |
| 42 | LW | Fardin Rabet | 18 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2025 |
| 43 | CF | Mohammad Abedi | 21 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2024 |
| 74 | CB | Erfan Rohani | 19 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2024 |
| — | GK | Amir Mohammad Bahrehmand | 18 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2022 |
| 99 | CF | Sajjad Aghaei | 21 | Zob Ahan | End of loan | Summer | 2022 |
| 12 | GK | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 31 | Tractor | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 27 | LB | Matin Karimzadeh | 22 | Pars Jonoubi | Transfer | Summer | 2023 |
| 22 | LW | Babak Moradi | 27 | Machine Sazi | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 20 | RB | Ahmad Mousavi | 28 | Gol Gohar | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 3 | CB | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 27 | Shahr Khodro | Transfer | Summer | 2022 |
| 9 | CM | Mehdi Mehdipour | 26 | Zob Ahan | Transfer | Summer | 2023 |
| 2 | LB | Mohammad Naderi | 24 | Kortrijk | Transfer | Summer | 2021 |
| — | CB | Mikaeil Sheikhi | 18 | Karun Ramhormoz | Transfer | Summer | 2025 |
| — | RW | Alireza Khodabakhshi | 18 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2025 |
| 71 | CF | Mohammad Hossein Fallah | 20 | Nirooye Zamini | Transfer | Summer | 2025 |
| 79 | RW | Sobhan Khaghani | 20 | Tractor | Transfer | Summer | 2025 |
| 44 | CB | Mohammad Javad Behafarin | 21 | Esteghlal Academy | Promoted | Summer | 2025 |
| 55 | CF | Erfan Golmohammadi | 23 | Nassaji | Loan | Winter | 2021 |
| 66 | CM | Saeid Mehri | 25 | Tractor | Transfer | Winter | 2023 |
| 63 | GK | Amirhossein Bayat | 22 | Persepolis | Transfer | Winter | |
| 23 | CF | Arman Ramezani | 28 | Persepolis | Transfer | Winter | 2022 |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type | Transfer window |
| 20 | CB | Nikolay Bodurov | 33 | Pirin Blagoevgrad | Transfer | Summer |
| 30 | CB | Azim Gök | 24 | Mes Kerman | Transfer | Summer |
| 28 | LW | Mohsen Karimi | 26 | Gol Gohar | Transfer | Summer |
| 4 | CB | Roozbeh Cheshmi | 27 | Umm Salal | Transfer | Summer |
| — | CM | Aref Gholampour | 20 | Foolad | Transfer | Summer |
| 9 | RW | Ali Dashti | 26 | Zob Ahan | Transfer | Summer |
| 80 | LW | Mohammad Bolboli | 22 | Naft MIS | Loan | Summer |
| 6 | CM | Ali Karimi | 25 | Qatar | Transfer | Summer |
| 43 | CF | Mohammad Abedi | 21 | Badran Tehran | Transfer | Summer |
| 3 | LB | Milad Zakipour | 24 | Gol Gohar | Transfer | Summer |
| — | LM | Mohammad Eslami | 20 | Tractor | Transfer | Summer |
| 32 | RB | Amirhossein Kargar | 21 | Gol Gohar | Transfer | Summer |
| 19 | GK | Hossein Pour Hamidi | 22 | Aluminium Arak | Loan | Summer |
| 17 | RW | Zakaria Moradi | 22 | Malavan | Loan | Summer |
| 57 | CB | Shahin Taherkhani | 23 | Paykan | Transfer | Summer |
| 38 | CM | Ali Tari | 20 | Sabail | Transfer | Summer |
| 11 | CF | Morteza Tabrizi | 30 | Gol Gohar | Transfer | Winter |
| 99 | CF | Sajjad Aghaei | 21 | Nassaji | Loan | Winter |
| 77 | CM | Reza Azari | 23 | Machine Sazi | Loan | Winter |
| 42 | LW | Fardin Rabet | 19 | Naft MIS | Loan | Winter |
| 44 | CB | Mohammadjavad Behafarin | 21 | Chooka Talesh | Loan | Winter |
| 71 | CF | Mohammad Hossein Fallah | 21 | Machine Sazi | Loan | Winter |
| 14 | DM | Farshid Bagheri | 28 | Gol Gohar | Transfer | Winter |

## 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 % |
| Pro League | 7 November 2020 (2020-11-07) | 30 July 2021 (2021-07-30) | — | 3rd | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 053.33 |
| Hazfi Cup | 11 March 2021 (2021-03-11) | 8 August 2021 (2021-08-08) | Round of 32 | Runners-up | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 060.00 |
| AFC Champions League | 15 April 2021 (2021-04-15) | 30 April 2021 (2021-04-30) | Group stage | Round of 16 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 41 | 22 | 12 | 7 | 56 | 30 | +26 | 053.66 |
Last updated: 10 August 2021 (2021-08-10). Source: Competitions

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Persepolis (C) | 30 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 47 | 14 | +33 | 67 | |
| 2 | Sepahan | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 24 | +29 | 65 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Esteghlal | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 56 | |
| 4 | Tractor | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 45 | |
| 5 | Gol Gohar | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 33 | 32 | +1 | 45 | |
* 1 2 Persepolis and Esteghlal did not obtain an AFC license. Therefore, even if they earn the right to play in Asian competitions based on league position, they will not be able to participate.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 31 July 2021 (2021-07-31). 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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | D | D | W | D | D | W | W | W | L | D | W | L | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | L | W | D | W | W | W | W | L |
| Position | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Score overview

Win  Draw  Loss
| Opposition | Home score | Away score | Double |
| Aluminium Arak | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Foolad | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Gol Gohar | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| Machine Sazi | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Mes Rafsanjan | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Naft MIS | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Nassaji | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 |
| Paykan | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0-0 |
| Persepolis | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| Saipa | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Sanat Naft | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Sepahan | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 |
| Shahr Khodro | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Tractor | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–2 |
| Zob Ahan | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 |

### AFC Champions League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | EST | DUH | AHL | SHO |
| 1 | Esteghlal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 11 | Advance to Round of 16 | — | 2–2 | 5–2 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Al-Duhail | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 9 | | 4–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Al-Ahli (H) | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 9 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Al-Shorta | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 3 | | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | — |

## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Pro League | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Hazfi Cup | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Hossein Hosseini | 14 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Mohammad Naderi | 32 | 3 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | DF | | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 32 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Siavash Yazdani | 28 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Aref Gholami | 28 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Masoud Rigi | 36 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Cheick Diabaté | 20 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 8 | MF | | Farshid Esmaeili | 32 | 6 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 9 | MF | | Mehdi Mehdipour | 33 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Mehdi Ghayedi | 40 | 9 | 29 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| 11 | MF | | Dariush Shojaeian | 22 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 27 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | | Sina Khadempour | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Arman Ramezani | 16 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | | Ahmad Mousavi | 24 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Vouria Ghafouri | 33 | 8 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Babak Moradi | 17 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | | Matin Karimzadeh | 16 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Hrvoje Milic | 18 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | | Arash Dajliri | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | MF | | Saeid Mehri | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 70 | DF | | Mohammad Daneshgar | 28 | 2 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | FW | | Arsalan Motahari | 38 | 8 | 29 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 79 | MF | | Sobhan Khaghani | 15 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | | Arash Rezavand | 38 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Players transferred/loaned out during the season ||||||||||||
| 14 | MF | | Farshid Bagheri | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | MF | | Fardin Rabet | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | FW | | Mohammad Hossein Fallah | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | | Sajjad Aghaei | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 10 August 2021 (2021-08-10) Source: Competitions

### Goals

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rank | Player | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Champions League | Total |
| 1 | Mehdi Ghayedi | 6 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Cheick Diabaté | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 2 | Vouria Ghafouri | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Arsalan Motahari | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | Farshid Esmaeili | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Mohammad Naderi | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Arman Ramezani | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Mohammad Daneshgar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Mehdi Mehdipour | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Sobhan Khaghani | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Ahmad Mousavi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Hrvoje Milić | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Matin Karimzadeh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 36 | 6 | 14 | 56 |
Last updated: 10 August 2021 (2021-08-10). Source: Competitive matches

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Champions League | Total |
| 1 | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 10 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Hossein Hosseini | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | Total | 16 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
Last updated: 9 August 2021 (2021-08-09). Source: Competitive matches

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more are included only.
| N | P | Name | Pro League | Pro League | Hazfi Cup | Champions League | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Hossein Hosseini | | | 1 | | 1 | |
| 2 | DF | Mohammad Naderi | 7 | | | | 7 | |
| 3 | DF | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 3 | | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
| 4 | DF | Siavash Yazdani | | | 1 | | 1 | |
| 5 | DF | Aref Gholami | 3 | | | | 3 | |
| 6 | MF | Masoud Rigi | 3 | | 1 | | 4 | |
| 7 | FW | Cheick Diabaté | 1 | | | 1 | 2 | |
| 8 | MF | Farshid Esmaeili | 3 | | | | 3 | |
| 9 | MF | Mehdi Mehdipour | 2 | | | | 2 | |
| 10 | FW | Mehdi Ghayedi | 3 | | | 1 | 4 | |
| 11 | MF | Dariush Shojaeian | 4 | | | 1 | 5 | |
| 12 | GK | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 3 | | | | 3 | |
| 14 | DF | Farshid Bagheri | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| 15 | DF | Sina Khadempour | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| 20 | DF | Ahmad Mousavi | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| 21 | DF | Vouria Ghafouri | 2 | | | | 2 | |
| 22 | MF | Babak Moradi | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 |
| 70 | DF | Mohammad Daneshgar | 4 | | 2 | | 6 | |
| 79 | MF | Sobhan Khaghani | | | | 1 | 1 | |
| 88 | MF | Arash Rezavand | 7 | | | | 7 | |
Last updated: 10 August 2021 (2021-08-10) Source: Scoreway Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.