# 2023 Hazfi Cup final

2023 Hazfi Cup Final was the final match of the 36th edition of Hazfi Cup that was held between Esteghlal Tehran and Persepolis at Azadi Stadium in Tehran on 31 May 2023.
Originally, the final was planned to be held at Shohadaye Mes Kerman Stadium in Kerman accourding to quarter-final stage draw but later, due to pitch issues, the second priority was selected, Yadegar-e Emam Stadium in Tabriz. However, the opposition of East Azerbaijan Football Board, didn't let Tabriz to be host of the final match. Finally, such as previous season, Azadi Stadium in Tehran chose as the host stadium.
This was the 6th Tehran derby match in Hazfi Cup and 2nd derby in final. The previous results between Esteghlal and Perspolis in Hazfi Cup are as follows:
| Derby No. | Season | Date (dd-mm-yyyy) | Home team | Score | Away team | Home goal scorers | Away goal scorers | Round | Winner |
| 31 | 1988–89 | 10-03-1989 | Esteghlal | 0–0 (2–4 p.) | Persepolis | – | – | Quarter-final | Persepolis in penalties |
| 47 | 1998–99 | 11-07-1999 | Persepolis | 2–1 | Esteghlal | Hasheminasab 12' (pen.), Peyrovani 85' | Bakhtiarizadeh 50' | Final | Persepolis |
| 74 | 2011–12 | 09-12-2011 | Persepolis | 0–3 (a.e.t) | Esteghlal | – | M. Jabbari 95', 99' (pen.), Sharifat 107' | Quarter-final | Esteghlal at extra time |
| 93 | 2019–20 | 26-08-2020 | Persepolis | 2–2 (1–4 p.) | Esteghlal | Resan 48', Alipour 89' | Ghayedi 4', Daneshgar 90+3' | Semi-final | Esteghlal in penalties |
| 96 | 2020–21 | 15-07-2021 | Persepolis | 0–0 (3–4 p.) | Esteghlal | – | – | Quarter-final | Esteghlal in penalties |

## Teams

| Team | City | Previous finals appearances |
| Esteghlal | Tehran | 13 (1977, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021) |
| Persepolis | Tehran | 8 (1987, 1992, 1999, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2019) |

## Route to the final
### Esteghlal Tehran

| Round | Opposition | Score |
| Round of 32 | Tractor (H) | 2-1 (a.e.t.) |
| Round of 16 | Malavan (H) | 2-0 |
| Quarter Final | Pars Jonoubi Jam (A) | 1-0 (a.e.t.) |
| Semi-Final | Nassaji Mazandaran (H) | 4-0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue |||
As a Persian Gulf Pro League, Esteghlal entered the competition from Round of 32.
They beat Tractor at home in the fourth round.
They beat Malavan at home in the fifth round.
They beat Pars Jonoubi Jam at Jam in the quarter-final.
They beat the defending champion, Nassaji Mazandaran at home in the semi-final.
They played 3 of their 4 matches at home before final and the final match also will be play at their home stadium.

### Perspolis

| Round | Opposition | Score |
| Round of 32 | Van Pars Naghse Jahan (H) | 2-2 (a.e.t.) (4-1 p) |
| Round of 16 | Sepahan (A) | 4-2 (a.e.t.) |
| Quarter Final | Gol Gohar (H) | 2-1 |
| Semi-Final | Havadar (A) | 3-1 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue |||
As a Persian Gulf Pro League, Perspolis entered the competition from Round of 32.
They beat Van Pars Naghse Jahan at home in the fourth round.
They beat Sepahan at Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium in the fifth round.
They beat Gol Gohar at home in the quarter-final.
They beat Havadar at PAS Ghvamin Stadium in the semi-final.

## Details

| Esteghlal | Perspolis |
Esteghlal: 4-4-2 :
| GK | 1 | Hossein Hosseini (c) |
| DF | 3 | Mohammad Hossein Moradmand | 90+11' |
| DF | 55 | Raphael Silva |
| DF | 17 | Jafar Salmani | | 67' |
| DF | 2 | Saleh Hardani |
| MF | 4 | Rouzbeh Cheshmi | 69' | 85' |
| MF | 88 | Arash Rezavand | | 85' |
| MF | 50 | Saeid Mehri |
| MF | 12 | Mehdi Ghayedi | | 115' |
| FW | 72 | Amir Arsalan Motahari | | 32' |
| FW | 77 | Mohammad Mohebi | | 85' |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 90 | Sina Saeidifar |
| MF | 55 | Aref Gholami | | 99' |
| MF | 33 | Abolfazl Jalali | | 67' |
| FF | 14 | Zobeir Niknafs | | 85' |
| FF | 23 | Arman Ramezani | | 85' |
| FF | 10 | Sajjad Shahbazzadeh | | 85' |
| FF | 18 | Peyman Babaei | 46' | 32' |
| Manager: |||
| Ricardo Sá Pinto ||||
Porspolis: 4-2-3-1 :
| GK | 1 | Alireza Beiranvand |
| DF | 30 | Giorgi Gvelesiani |
| DF | 8 | Morteza Pouraliganji |
| DF | 5 | Danial Esmaeilifar | 65' | 70' |
| DF | 6 | Ali Nemati | 69' |
| MF | 7 | Soroush Rafiei | 55' | 89' |
| MF | 9 | Mehdi Torabi | 30' | 69' |
| MF | 10 | Milad Sarlak |
| MF | 19 | Vahid Amiri (c) |
| MF | 21 | Saeid Sadeghi | | 89' |
| FW | 72 | Issa Alekasir | 90+6' | 90+10' |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 99 | Ahmad Gohari |
| MF | 3 | Farshad Faraji | | 70' |
| MF | 18 | Sina Asadbeigi | | 89' |
| MF | 2 | Omid Alishah | 115' | 89' |
| FW | 16 | Mehdi Abdi | 120+2' | 90+10' |
| DF | 66 | Vakhdat Khanonov |
| MF | 11 | Kamal Kamyabinia |
| MF | 80 | Mohammad Omri |
| FW | 25 | Cheick Diabaté (footballer, born 1988) |
| Manager: |||
| Yahya Golmohammadi ||||
| Referee: Ashkan Khorshidi Assistant Referees: Alireza Ilderom Hasan Zahiri Additional AR: Mohammad Hossein Zahedifard Seyed Ali Asghar Momeni Fourth official: Mohammad Hossein Torabian | Match rules: 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Nine named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions in normal time and another substitution in extra time |