Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Damash

Jahanbakhsh played most of his youth in Rasht and Persian Qazvin before joining the youth academy of Damash Tehran in 2008. Jahanbaksh started his career in Tehran with Damash Tehran, an affiliate of Damash Gilan in the 2nd Division. In 2011, Jahanbakhsh returned to Gilan and at the age of 17. In 2011, Jahanbakhsh played his first game for Damash Gilan in the Iran Pro League against Mes as one of Damash's youngest ever players. Jahanbakhsh scored his first goal on 15 January 2012 in a 1–0 victory against Fajr. In 42 league appearances with Damash, he scored 10 goals.

NEC

2013–14 season

Though he was expected to join Iranian giants, Persepolis, on 26 May 2013, Jahanbakhsh reached a verbal agreement with Dutch outfit NEC Nijmegen for a three-year deal. This deal was subject to a medical examination and obtaining a visa and work permit. He officially joined the club on 1 July 2013. He made his debut as a substitute in an Eredivisie match against FC Groningen on 3 August 2013. He scored his first goal in an 8–0 win over Harkemase Boys in the KNVB Cup. On 1 December 2013, Jahanbakhsh scored two goals and assisted the other in a 3–2 league match win over AZ Alkmaar. On 22 December, he scored and assisted at Groningen while providing a secondary assist on 15 February 2014 against RKC Waalwijk. On 22 March, when NEC were down 2–0 at half-time, Jahanbakhsh came on as a substitute after the half and provided an assist for Michael Higdon in their…

Youth

Jahanbakhsh was part of the squad that played at the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship in China, playing in two games. Being only 16 at the start of the championships in 2010, he continued at the same age group, captaining the national under-20 team for their successful 2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualification by scoring 5 goals in four appearances. At the championships, he added two more to his tally against the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. Jahanbakhsh was called into Iran's Olympic qualifiers in March 2015 and was named team captain. With the presence of Jahanbakhsh the under-23 team qualified to the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Qatar. As the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship was not held during the FIFA International Match Calendar, Jahanbakhsh was not released by AZ Alkmaar.

Senior team

On 5 October 2013, Jahanbakhsh was called up to Team Melli in a 2015 Asian Cup qualifier against Thailand by manager Carlos Queiroz, and he served his first cap as a substitute in the 82nd minute. His first national team goal came in his second game on 15 November in a 3–0 win at Thailand. On 1 June 2014, he was called into Iran's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad by Queiroz. He played in all three matches against Nigeria, Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014 by Queiroz. In May 2018, he was named in Iran's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He played all three group matches against Morocco, Spain…

Jahanbakhsh has been compared to Iranian legend Mehdi Mahdavikia. In several interviews Jahanbakhsh revealed his life time dream is to play in Bundesliga, although there is huge interest in him from Italian and English sides declaring that as a kid he grew up watching his idols Ali Daei, Ali Karimi and Vahid Hashemian play for Bayern Munich and Mehdi Mahdavikia for Hamburger SV.

Jahanbakhsh was born on 11 August 1993 in Jirandeh, a small city located in Rudbar County, Gilan Province. He grew up in Qazvin and is an ethnic Gilak.