Esteghlal F.C.

1945–69: early years, The Crown

On 20 September 1945, some young athletes and students including a 23-year-old military officer Parviz Khosravani (first manager of the club), Asghar Navaab (Bicycle Mechanic), Enayat Jananpour (National Sports Organisation staff member), Mirzaee (carpenter) and Khashaaei (bank guard) established a sports club on Ferdowsi Street, Tehran. Since the founders of the club were mostly interested in cycling, the club's original name was Docharkheh Savaran (Persian: دوچرخه سواران; meaning 'The Cyclists'), in 1945. Esteghlal football club played its first official match in 1946. In the first year, the 1946 season, they stood in second place of Tehran Football League and Tehran Hazfi Cup. The 1947 season ended with the first ever Esteghlal's cup, after victories to reach the Tehran Hazfi Cup. Docharkhe Savaran founders and players agreed with the rename of the club to Taj (تاج; meaning 'The Crown'), in 1949. From the beginning Taj or Docharkeh Savaran competed in the Tehran Local League, which at the time was the highest ranked league in Iran. On 6 March 1950, Taj played its first official game in Amjadieh Stadium against Shahin; Taj managed a 1–0 win. Taj won seven first titles in the 1950s and 1960s; 1949–1950, 1951–1952, 1957–1958 and the three consecutive championships in 1959–1960, 1960–1961 and 1961–1962 (in the following years Taj added its first titles from the Tehran Provincial League and the Tehran Hazfi Cup) and again in 1963–1964…

Esteghlal has won 39 championship titles in provincial, national, continental and international cups.

Domestic

League

Iran League Winners (10): 1957, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2021–22 Runners-up (11): 1973–74, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2010–11, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2023–24

Cups

Hazfi Cup (record) Winners (8): 1976–77, 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2017–18, 2024–25 Runners-up (7): 1989–90, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2015–16, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–2023 Super Cup Winners (1): 2022 Runners-up (2): 2018, 2025

Provincial

Tehran League (record) Winners (13): 1949–50, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1970–1971, 1972–73, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1991–92 Runners-up (7): 1946–47, 1951–52, 1958–59, 1969–70, 1982–83, 1989–90, 1990–91 Tehran Hazfi Cup Winners (4): 1946–47, 1950–51, 1958–59, 1960–61 Runners-up (3): 1945–46, 1957–58, 1969–70 Tehran Super Cup (shared record) Winners (1): 1994

Continental

Asian Club Championship / AFC Champions League (Iran record) Winners (2): 1970, 1990–91 Runners-up (2): 1991, 1998–99 Third place (2): 1971, 2001–02 Semi-finalists (1): 2013 Asian Cup Winners' Cup Fourth place (2): 1996, 2000–01

International

DCM Trophy Winners (4): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1989 Bordoloi Trophy Winners (1): 1989 Turkmenistan President's Cup Winners (1): 1998

Doubles and Treble and Four or…