Foolad FC

Foolad Arena in Ahvaz holds 30,655.

The two Pro League titles, in 2004-05 and 2013-14, bracket a run of near misses: a runners-up finish in 2005-06, and cup final defeats in 1992-93 and 1995-96 before the club finally took the Hazfi Cup in 2020-21, beating Esteghlal in the final, and followed it with the Iran Super Cup the same year. A second-tier title, the Azadegan League in 2007-08, sits earlier in the account.

None of it means as much in Ahvaz as the Khuzestan Derby against Sanat Naft Abadan.

Javad Nekounam's name runs through the club's recent decade both ways: as a player he helped win the 2013-14 title, and he later returned to manage the side. Ashkan Dejagah signed in 2022, another former Iran captain arriving in the same window as Voria Ghafouri, who had previously worn the armband at Esteghlal.