Sardar Azmoun

Early years

According to Sardar, he was first introduced to the sport when he started to kick some balls on a family trip in Turkmenistan when he was 9. He began his career at Oghab Gonbad of Gonbad-e Kavus. He also played volleyball and was invited to Iran's national under-15 volleyball team. After some years, he joined Shamoushak Gorgan, before joining Etka Gorgan, who were playing in Division 1 (the second tier) in Iran at the time.

Sepahan

At age 15, Azmoun joined Sepahan's youth ranks. While he appeared for the club during their pre-season friendlies abroad in Turkey, he did not make a professional appearance for the club as Sepahan won the 2011–12 Iran Pro League and lifted the trophy. During the 2012–13 season, thanks to Azmoun's great display in Iran's youth team, Sardar became sought after by a couple of European clubs, namely Rubin Kazan. Azmoun became Iran's youngest Legionnaire when later that year he transferred to Rubin Kazan at the age of 17.

Rubin Kazan

2012–13 season

In January 2013, Azmoun received an offer from Russian team Rubin Kazan to join them; meanwhile he had interest from two Iranian teams, Persepolis and Esteghlal, as well as an offer for first team contract in Sepahan. He chose to work with Turkmen speaking Kurban Berdyev and became Iran's first football player in the Russian Premier League. In his first season at the club, he made eight appearances for his club's reserve team, scoring two goals and…

Youth

Azmoun broke out while representing the Iran U-20 side when he was first called up for the 2012 AFF U-19 Youth Championship, becoming the top scorer of the tournament before repeating the feat in the 2012 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup, scoring seven goals in six games. On 8 October 2013, he played for the U-20 team during the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship qualification in Kerman. In a match against Lebanon, he captained the team by scoring two goals, assisting one and drawing a penalty. Azmoun was called into the U-23's team for Olympic qualifiers in March 2015. He was the tournament's leading goalscorer going into the final matchday with 4 goals in 3 matches. As the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship was not held during the FIFA International Match Calendar, he was not released by Rostov.

Senior

On 5 October 2013, Azmoun was called up to the Iranian national football team against Thailand by Carlos Queiroz. He was selected in Iran's 28-man provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by Queiroz but was one of five players being dropped from the final squad.

Azmoun made his senior debut on 26 May 2014 in a friendly match against Montenegro, coming on as a substitute in the 60th minute for Reza Ghoochannejhad. However, he was not included in Iran's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, announced on 1 June 2014. He scored his first goal on 18 November 2014 in a 1–0 friendly win over South Korea. Azmoun was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30…

Azmoun has been praised for his aerial ability, creativity, and bursts of acceleration. He has been referred to as a young Zlatan Ibrahimović and has also been called the Iranian Messi by mainly British media. Azmoun has also been touted to be the heir of legendary Iranian striker Ali Daei.

Azmoun was born into a Sunni family of Turkmen origin. He speaks Persian, Turkmen, Turkish, English and Russian fluently, and is fond of riding on horseback. He communicated with Kurban Berdyev, his Turkmenistani coach at FC Rubin Kazan and FC Rostov, in Turkmen. He decided to wear number 69 at Kazan as a tribute to his hometown's vehicle registration plate. Azmoun has stated he is a supporter of Spanish club Real Madrid. Azmoun has also stated that playing for Fenerbahçe is his childhood dream. He is the son of Khalil Azmoun, a former Iranian national volleyball team player who has coached several volleyball teams, such as Golgohar Sirjan and Javaheri Gonbad VC. Azmoun decided to retire from International football at the age of 23 just after Iran's 2018 World Cup exit due to heavy criticism he faced from fans, as the criticism caused his mother's illness to worsen. As a result, Azmoun chose to retire to be by his mother's side, but later returned to the team. Azmoun is a member of the Humanitarian Association of World Turkmens.

Sporting interests

Outside of his footballing life, Azmoun is a keen equestrian, and is active in thoroughbred horse racing and breeding. He owns the Serik Horse Complex, a major horse racing and breeding complex based in his hometown of Gonbad-e Kavus. In a February 2022 interview Azmoun said that he owns 52 horses. In 2020, he bought the Australian thoroughbred horse Serlik for $500,000; Serlik is trained by Australian jockey Michelle…