Fifa World Ranking

[inarsenewetrust]

US has had a much more successful World Cup history than team melli—they get out of the group stages more often than not and beat big teams at times…we’d be thinking we’re gods if we got out of the group stages as much as them and even round if 16, etc.

well yes, US has a population of 330 million people, many of immigrant backgrounds where football is far more valued than traditional american sports. In addition they pour obscene amounts of money into the sport (truly not required for successful, efficient development of youth football, but the system is highly corrupt so some people get very rich from it) and of course from purely statistical perspective if you combine interest levels, diversity + investment you will get some strong players and good WC performances.

That doesnt mean US is employing a model for youth development that we or any other country should seek to emulate, lol

[PersianLion80]

well yes, US has a population of 330 million people, many of immigrant backgrounds where football is far more valued than traditional american sports. In addition they pour obscene amounts of money into the sport (truly not required for successful, efficient development of youth football, but the system is highly corrupt so some people get very rich from it) and of course from purely statistical perspective if you combine interest levels, diversity + investment you will get some strong players and good WC performances.

That doesnt mean US is employing a model for youth development that we or any other country should seek to emulate, lol

With this iri run govt we’re lucky to have any system to emulate …

[inarsenewetrust]

With this iri run govt we’re lucky to have any system to emulate …

well thats a different story. I think the real point is IR doesnt want us to be particularly successful in any field. Can you imagine what a boisterous, properly functioning football scene would do in terms of mobilizing mass amounts of people.

Imagine 100k at azadi cheering on a TM that had a coach who fought tooth and nail for the players, and for progress, and delivered a huge improvement in terms of our performances on the pitch (lets say a Record WC points total, first undefeated qualification to WC ever in our history, building generation of players that are backbone of what we use now, etc). OH wait, we had that, and they made sure to get rid of him and replace him with a series of a. charlatan b. underqualified yes man.

Thats just the reality of why we are hitting a certain ceiling in all departments, not a very high one, key decision makers in our country believe fairies are going to do hard technical work that requires effort and expertise for them.

But here we were discussing in theory what should be done, if one goal of the government or sports ministry was a fundamental improvement of iranian football.

Somebody with very little real idea of footballing reality said we should emulate American system of youth development, a statement not one person who has ever even casually followed the sport could make in honest faith. Why? because if you would like to have a corrupt, highly inefficient, football development approach led by a bunch of people with zero history/experience in the sport (actually mainly businessmen who are promoting "pay to play" system to enrich themselves and their cronies) then look no further than US soccer federation. Ironically, that sounds pretty similar to some of the shitty elements we already have in Iranian football...

If you just want 1 example of how deep nepotism and corruption runs in US soccer, look no further than their highly unqualified head coach, greg berhalter. Hired bc his brother was US soccer's chief commercial officer at the time. This is the highest level post in entire country for football, the head coach of national team...The whole thing is a total sham and I cant believe some people would actually want to EMULATE this sh1tshow!

[MatthewNekoui]

well thats a different story. I think the real point is IR doesnt want us to be particularly successful in any field. Can you imagine what a boisterous, properly functioning football scene would do in terms of mobilizing mass amounts of people.

Imagine 100k at azadi cheering on a TM that had a coach who fought tooth and nail for the players, and for progress, and delivered a huge improvement in terms of our performances on the pitch (lets say a Record WC points total, first undefeated qualification to WC ever in our history, building generation of players that are backbone of what we use now, etc). OH wait, we had that, and they made sure to get rid of him and replace him with a series of a. charlatan b. underqualified yes man.

Thats just the reality of why we are hitting a certain ceiling in all departments, not a very high one, key decision makers in our country believe fairies are going to do hard technical work that requires effort and expertise for them.

But here we were discussing in theory what should be done, if one goal of the government or sports ministry was a fundamental improvement of iranian football.

Somebody with very little real idea of footballing reality said we should emulate American system of youth development, a statement not one person who has ever even casually followed the sport could make in honest faith. Why? because if you would like to have a corrupt, highly inefficient, football development approach led by a bunch of people with zero history/experience in the sport (actually mainly businessman who are promoting "pay to play" system to enrich themselves and their cronies) then look no further than US soccer federation. Ironically, that sounds pretty similar to some of the shitty elements we already have in our football...

Just to clarify when I said Iran should invest in their youth like the US I just meant financially. The US structure definitely isn't ideal but it is improving and the amount of money spent on the youth is definitely something that should be desired. It's not just the dual nationals here in the US that are having success. I had a classmate who dropped out of college early on to go play in Spain. Iran's players never usually go to Europe that early. Imagine what our team would be like if IFF spent money like the US does. If our federation poured millions into building proper youth academies in every major city or even one large academy in Tehran where all the best kids could go to and live/study similar to Aspire in Qatar, it could make all the difference. With that level of financial support, Iran's kids would be ready to go abroad as soon as they turn 18.

[inarsenewetrust]

Just to clarify when I said Iran should invest in their youth like the US I just meant financially. The US structure definitely isn't ideal but it is improving and the amount of money spent on the youth is definitely something that should be desired. It's not just the dual nationals here in the US that are having success. I had a classmate who dropped out of college early on to go play in Spain. Iran's players never usually go to Europe that early. Imagine what our team would be like if IFF spent money like the US does. If our federation poured millions into building proper youth academies in every major city or even one large academy in Tehran where all the best kids could go to and live/study similar to Aspire in Qatar, it could make all the difference. With that level of financial support, Iran's kids would be ready to go abroad as soon as they turn 18.

As qatars pending failure in wc and US failing to wipe the floor with Panama, Trinidad, Jamaica, el salvador etc on consistent basis shows throwing money around is not the way to grow a proper footballing system. I know it’s hard to break free if the highly American mentality That just bc u spend most means you are doing great and are the best but that just isn’t how this sport works.

Investment needed? Yes, but building a highly successful footballing program doesn’t require massive investment at all, quite the contrary. It requires highly strategic planning by qualified people (something US has zero idea about). Like how CQ revolutionized Portuguese football and turned a quite poor country with fairly small population, with weak infrastructure (still the case today) into a footballing powerhouse that exports countless players AND coaches every year. Or even smaller country like croatia, with pretty average standard of head coaches (none bar bilic made lasting impression outside of their country) is a footballing powerhouse practically shitting out world class talents every year.

There are actual methods to tjis that are much much more nuanced than pour millions into academies and make sure kids play in Europe by age 18

[PersianLion80]

well thats a different story. I think the real point is IR doesnt want us to be particularly successful in any field. Can you imagine what a boisterous, properly functioning football scene would do in terms of mobilizing mass amounts of people.

Imagine 100k at azadi cheering on a TM that had a coach who fought tooth and nail for the players, and for progress, and delivered a huge improvement in terms of our performances on the pitch (lets say a Record WC points total, first undefeated qualification to WC ever in our history, building generation of players that are backbone of what we use now, etc). OH wait, we had that, and they made sure to get rid of him and replace him with a series of a. charlatan b. underqualified yes man.

Thats just the reality of why we are hitting a certain ceiling in all departments, not a very high one, key decision makers in our country believe fairies are going to do hard technical work that requires effort and expertise for them.

But here we were discussing in theory what should be done, if one goal of the government or sports ministry was a fundamental improvement of iranian football.

Somebody with very little real idea of footballing reality said we should emulate American system of youth development, a statement not one person who has ever even casually followed the sport could make in honest faith. Why? because if you would like to have a corrupt, highly inefficient, football development approach led by a bunch of people with zero history/experience in the sport (actually mainly businessmen who are promoting "pay to play" system to enrich themselves and their cronies) then look no further than US soccer federation. Ironically, that sounds pretty similar to some of the shitty elements we already have in Iranian football...

If you just want 1 example of how deep nepotism and corruption runs in US soccer, look no further than their highly unqualified head coach, greg berhalter. Hired bc his brother was US soccer's chief commercial officer at the time. This is the highest level post in entire country for football, the head coach of national team...The whole thing is a total sham and I cant believe some people would actually want to EMULATE this sh1tshow!

Totally agree

[MatthewNekoui]

As qatars pending failure in wc and US failing to wipe the floor with Panama, Trinidad, Jamaica, el salvador etc on consistent basis shows throwing money around is not the way to grow a proper footballing system. I know it’s hard to break free if the highly American mentality That just bc u spend most means you are doing great and are the best but that just isn’t how this sport works.

Investment needed? Yes, but building a highly successful footballing program doesn’t require massive investment at all, quite the contrary. It requires highly strategic planning by qualified people (something US has zero idea about). Like how CQ revolutionized Portuguese football and turned a quite poor country with fairly small population, with weak infrastructure (still the case today) into a footballing powerhouse that exports countless players AND coaches every year. Or even smaller country like croatia, with pretty average standard of head coaches (none bar bilic made lasting impression outside of their country) is a footballing powerhouse practically shitting out world class talents every year.

There are actual methods to tjis that are much much more nuanced than pour millions into academies and make sure kids play in Europe by age 18

Money isn't everything but it is a good portion of it. To have highly skilled qualified people running the system you need to spend money. You won't get the best coaches and scouts or equipment from around the world without spending a lot. Nobody works for free and in order to bring people in to develop our kids you gotta spend. Our federation can't even provide our boys with proper kits. You got guys in the back steam pressing numbers and badges onto jerseys. Even the Portuguese and Croatian federations spend more than IFF. In terms of their infrastructure, you could even argue that it's still better than what our kids have in Iran.

Qatar will fail at the world cup and the US will at best get to the Quarters but both countries still have won more silverware than Iran in the past 40 years so proper money invested does play a role. It's no coincidence that the last time Iran won a trophy was when the Shah's federation was actually well run and provided proper financial support.

[Lapayee]

Here is what you might want to do to get a little better idea of where football is heading in USA:
Go to a few ball park and observe the the hundreds of little people and teenagers playing the game. You may notice that they are playing the game with enthusiasm, skill and structure. Once media gets behind men's soccer, as they have with women's, they will be a force to reckon with. If we had this in Iran or any other country, we'd have the same prospects.

[St_Mark]

Money isn't everything but it is a good portion of it. To have highly skilled qualified people running the system you need to spend money. You won't get the best coaches and scouts or equipment from around the world without spending a lot. Nobody works for free and in order to bring people in to develop our kids you gotta spend. Our federation can't even provide our boys with proper kits. You got guys in the back steam pressing numbers and badges onto jerseys. Even the Portuguese and Croatian federations spend more than IFF. In terms of their infrastructure, you could even argue that it's still better than what our kids have in Iran.
Qatar will fail at the world cup and the US will at best get to the Quarters but both countries still have won more silverware than Iran in the past 40 years so proper money invested does play a role. It's no coincidence that the last time Iran won a trophy was when the Shah's federation was actually well run and provided proper financial support.

Qatar's WC spending has less to do with football despite focus and appearance, it's investment in their future and culture and nation building.

So much money , combine with lack of infrastructure, capacities, know how ... end in disaster, corruption and destructions. Unable to spent their money but invest abroad in US UK banks , the money that will never return back except only for purchase of western goods and military equipment and services.

Hosting of WC was a brilliant idea for Qatar, that help them to build infrastructure and transformed their little unknown sheikdom to much improved country with better standards and influence , it help their future , it give them pride individually and as a nation
it is part of their nation building and it definitely help their sport and football.
Only weeks a go they sign a contract agreement with Iran to help Iran football federation overcome some of IFF shortcomings the biggest agreement in IFF history. They had a good vision and were thinking big.

[PSGman#19]

Here is what you might want to do to get a little better idea of where football is heading in USA:
Go to a few ball park and observe the the hundreds of little people and teenagers playing the game. You may notice that they are playing the game with enthusiasm, skill and structure. Once media gets behind men's soccer, as they have with women's, they will be a force to reckon with. If we had this in Iran or any other country, we'd have the same prospects.

More than money, I think our biggest problem is sanctions and lack of relation with Europe.
FA similar to IFF have proper kit and sponsor, and can do good things because they can export players to Europe, import coach from Europe and play friendlies with everyone

[DR Strangemoosh]

Iran breaks into top 20: https://football-ranking.com/fifa_rankings

Winning all the remaining games still gives a chance for WC Pot 2 depending on other results.

[Malkay]

I dunno. I think we need crazy snookers to get pot 2, especially with yesterday's results in the Americas.

We need both Uruguay and Columbia not to qualify
Wales and Sweden not to qualify
Probably both USA and Mexico not to qualify

This is because in place of Columbia and Uruguay you'll have 2 teams who can get the last automatic and the playoff place in Chile and Peru, who are both right behind us.

Then you've got AFCON getting in the way of understanding Africa. Senegal v Egypt could be a loss either way if Egypt win AFCON. Morocco or Tunisia going deep also puts them above us should they win their respective qualifiers against DR Congo and Mali.

In short we would need to win our 3 remaining games and cross our fingers and toes that a number of other factors go our way.

We're better off just accepting we'll end up in pot 3, praying we avoid Germany or the Netherlands and acknowledging that a lot of pot 3 teams could hurt us as bad as the other pot 2 teams

[Medzdidz]

I think would be better for us if Senegal lose that match.

Whatever happens well done to our team on a massive achivement.

[Ab-Gosht]

and acknowledging that a lot of pot 3 teams could hurt us as bad as the other pot 2 teams

well this is true in theory but in reality BIG difference between pot 2 and 3

[Malkay]

I think would be better for us if Senegal lose that match.
Whatever happens well done to our team on a massive achivement.

Agreed. I suspect once the dust settles on AFCON, Egypt will still be far enough behind us (and Senegal ahead of us) that we will be rooting for Egypt to qualify.