Iran U20

Tehran's Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium seats 8,250, but it is where Iran's youth football has been built for decades. Team Melli Javanan, the country's under-20 side, dates its establishment to 1969, the year it first entered the AFC Youth Championship and finished third.

The side's peak came in the mid-1970s: four straight continental titles, in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976, followed by a runner-up finish in 1977 and, that same year, the team's first appearance at the FIFA World Youth Championship.

Iran has returned to the FIFA U-20 World Cup twice more, in 2001 and 2017, on both occasions going out at the group stage. Regionally the team remains a fixture at the top: it won the 2019 CAFA U-19 Championship and, further back, took the Toulon Tournament in 1978.

The squad's real value shows up later. Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Beiranvand both passed through the under-20 ranks before becoming fixtures of the senior team. The white-and-red kit is the same one the senior side wears.

The next assignment is qualification for the following AFC U-20 Asian Cup.