# Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.

Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال استقلال خوزستان, Bašgâh-e Futbâl-e Esteqlâl-e Xuzestân), commonly known as Esteghlal Khuzestan, is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran. The club currently competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League after being promoted from the Azadegan League in the 2022–23 season.
This football club is different from Esteghlal Ahvaz. In 2011 they bought Esteghlal Jonub's licence to compete in the Azadegan League. They finished 2012–13 season in 2nd place of their group and qualified to the promotion play-off. However, they were awarded the direct promotion IRIFF after group's winner, Shahrdari Tabriz's relegation due to match-fixing. They won the Persian Gulf Pro League title in 2015–16 season.

## History
### Founding and early years

Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. was established just before the start of the 2011–2012 season by acquiring the license of Esteghlal Jonub Tehran F.C. who has just been promoted to the Azadegan League (Iran's 1st division). After an average 6th-place finish in the team's inaugural year in the Azadegan League in 2011–2012, the next season (2012–13) turned out to be a different year, with a 2nd-placed finish in group B, the club was promoted to the Iran Pro League for the first time in their history.

### Promotion to the Pro League

In Esteghlal Khuzestan's first year in the top flight, it finished 12th, escaping relegation play-off by better goal difference. In the Hazfi Cup Esteghlal Khuzestan exited the competition in the Round of 32 after a shock defeat to Azadegan League side Alvand Hamedan. Esteghlal finished the 2014–15 season 14th, meaning it would have to play in a relegation play-off against the winner of the Azadegan League promotion play-off winner. Esteghlal Khuzestan defeated Mes Kerman 3–0 on aggregate meaning it had secured a spot in the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League season.

#### 2015–16 season

Before the start of the 2015–16 season Esteghlal Khuzestan signed many of Foolad Novin's players and was a major surprise, as it started well in the season. Esteghlal Khuzestan had four consecutive winning streak at the 12th week, which made Esteghlal Khuzestan finished champion of the first half of the season. After a great result with Abdollah Veisi, Esteghlal Khuzestan managed to keep its shape at the second half of the season. On January 1, 2016, Esteghlal Khuzestan lost to Persepolis which made the race tighter for first place, and also made Esteghlal Khuzestan fall to second place, Esteghlal became first after 17th week. The head coach Abdollah Veisi later said that their main goal was to take place at AFC Champions League. Esteghlal Khuzestan qualified to the AFC Champions League on 8 May, for the first time in its history. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the league title on 13 May after a 2–0 win over Zob Ahan.

#### Relegation

Following a poor start to the following season, 6 points were deduced from Esteghlal Khuzestan by FIFA. Dariush Yazdi was sacked and Karim Boostani replaced the coach. Results ultimately did not improve under Boostani and he was replaced with Mohammad Alavi. Esteghlal Khuzestan were relegated from the Persian Gulf Pro League to Azadegan League on 3 May 2019.

## Individual Records
### All Top Appearances

| # | Name | Nationality | Position | Apps |
| 1 | Mohammad Tayyebi | Iran | Defender | 133 |
| 2 | Hossein Bahrami | Iran | Midfielder | 107 |
| 2 | Meysam Doraghi | Iran | Defensive midfielder | 107 |
| 4 | Ali Helichi | Iran | Midfielder | 100 |
| 5 | Aghil Kaabi | Iran | Defender | 95 |
| 6 | Moussa Coulibaly | Mali | Defender | 92 |
| 7 | Vahid Sheikhveisi | Iran | Goalkeeper | 87 |
| 8 | Mehdi Momeni | Iran | Forward | 83 |
| 9 | Hadi Khanifar | Iran | Midfielder | 82 |
| 10 | Mojtaba Rashidi | Iran | Forward | 75 |

### All Top Scorers

| # | Name | Nationality | Position | Goals |
| 1 | Mojtaba Rashidi | Iran | Forward | 23 |
| 2 | Hassan Beyt Saeed | Iran | Forward | 22 |
| 3 | Ehsan Alvanzadeh | Iran | Forward | 21 |
| 4 | Farshad Janfaza | Iran | Striker | 18 |
| 5 | Javad Aghaeipour | Iran | Forward | 16 |
| 6 | Ali vaziri Panah | Iran | Striker | 15 |
| 7 | Mehdi Momeni | Iran | Forward | 14 |
| 7 | Rahim Zahivi | Iran | Forward | 14 |
| 9 | Hadi Khanifar | Iran | Midfielder | 9 |
| 9 | Ali Kiani Far | Iran | Midfielder | 9 |

## Stadium

After the takeover of the club in 2011, the club played its home matches in Ahvaz's Takhti Stadium. After the club promoted to the Iran Pro League, it was decided that club continuing to play at Takthi, while big games like Persepolis, Esteghlal and Foolad playing at newly built Ghadir Stadium. In 2015, the club moved to Ghadir permanently, as city rivals Foolad set to move to its private ground.

## Rivals

The team competes in Ahvaz derby against two-times Iran Pro League winner Foolad.

## Honours
### Domestic competitions
#### League

* Persian Gulf Pro League:
** Winners (1): 2015–16
* Azadegan League:
** Winners (1): 2012–13

#### Cup

* Super Cup
** Runners-up (1): 2016

## Season-by-season

The table below shows the achievements of the club in various competitions.
| Season | League | Position | Hazfi Cup | Asia | Notes |
| 2011–12 | Azadegan League | 6th | Round of 32 | did not qualify | |
| 2012–13 | Azadegan League | 2nd | ? | did not qualify | Promoted |
| 2013–14 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 12th | Round of 32 | did not qualify | |
| 2014–15 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 14th | Round of 16 | did not qualify | Relegation play-off |
| 2015–16 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 1st | Round of 16 | did not qualify | Super Cup |
| 2016–17 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 7th | Round of 64 | Round of 16 | |
| 2017–18 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 12th | Semi-Final | did not qualify | |
| 2018–19 | Persian Gulf Pro League | 16th | Round of 16 | did not qualify | Relegated |
| 2019–20 | Azadegan League | 9th | Did not participate | did not qualify | |
| 2020–21 | Azadegan League | 6th | Did not participate | did not qualify | |
| 2021–22 | Azadegan League | 13th | Third Round | did not qualify | |
| 2022–23 | Azadegan League | 2nd | Round of 32 | did not qualify | Promoted |

## Continental record

| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 2017 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Fateh | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2nd |
| 2017 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Al-Jazira | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2nd |
| 2017 | AFC Champions League | Group B | Lekhwiya | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2nd |
| 2017 | AFC Champions League | Round of 16 | Al-Hilal | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 |

## Players
### First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IRN | Hassan Pour Hamidi |
| 2 | DF | IRN | Sajjad Danaei Baghaki |
| 3 | DF | IRN | Aram Abbasi |
| 4 | DF | IRN | Ali Helichi |
| 5 | DF | IRN | Mohammad Hosseini |
| 6 | MF | IRN | Mahmoud Motlaghzadeh (Captain) |
| 7 | FW | IRN | Sajjad Shahbazzadeh |
| 8 | MF | IRQ | Moamel Abdulridha |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Kainã |
| 10 | MF | BRA | Sávio Roberto |
| 11 | FW | IRN | Behrouz Barani |
| 12 | MF | IRN | Erfan Sazegari |
| 13 | MF | IRN | Mohammad Abshak |
| 14 | FW | IRN | Hossein Mohammadian |
| 15 | DF | GRE | Dimitrios Chatziisaias |
| 17 | MF | IRN | Hamed Bahiraei |
| 19 | FW | IRN | Amir Savaed |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | IRN | Mehdi Savadkouhi |
| 21 | FW | IRN | Amirmohammad Mohkamkar |
| 22 | FW | IRN | Sepehr Simanpour |
| 23 | FW | CGO | Thievy Bifouma |
| 26 | DF | IRN | Mehdi Khoshbakht |
| 27 | FW | IRN | Ahmad Savari |
| 30 | MF | IRN | Foad Koroushat |
| 33 | GK | IRN | Omid Afshin |
| 34 | GK | IRN | Ahmad Gohari |
| 35 | FW | IRN | Abolfazl Koohi |
| 40 | FW | IRN | Alireza Aiboobeyd |
| 41 | DF | IRN | Fayaz Mirdoraghi |
| 66 | MF | IRN | Reza Safinia |
| 70 | DF | IRN | Sobhan Pasandideh |
| 81 | FW | IRN | Adel Arghand |
| 88 | MF | IRN | Ismaeil Babaei |

### Loan list

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers winter 2024.

## Officials
### Coaching staff

| Staff | Name |
| Head coach | Miodrag Božović |
| Assistant coach | Behrouz Makvandi |
| Goalkeeping coach | Karim Boostani |
| Fitness coach | Rafael Bispo |
| International manager | Behdad Bayat |
| Doctor | Jalal Heydari |
| Physiotherapist | Sadegh Norouzi |
| Analyzer | Habib Eslami |
| B Team Manager | Behrouz Makvandi |
| Team manager | Afshin Komaei |

### List of managers

| Period | Name | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Honours |
| 2011–2013 | Majid Bagherinia | 52 | 22 | 15 | 15 | 52 | 41 | +11 | Promotion to the Persian Gulf Cup |
| 2013–2016 | Abdollah Veisi | 132 | 55 | 47 | 30 | 142 | 131 | +21 | Azadegan League Persian Gulf Pro League |
| 2016–2017 | Sirous Pourmousavi | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 36 | 34 | +2 | |
| 2017–2018 | Abdollah Veisi | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 36 | -7 | |
| 2018 | Dariush Yazdi | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -10 | |
| 2018–2019 | Karim Boostani | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 11 | -6 | |
| 2019 | Karim Ghanbari (caretaker) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | |

## Players in International Tournaments

Players who were a member of their national team at International Competitions while playing for Esteghlal Khuzestan.
| Cup | Players |
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations | Soumbeïla Diakité |