Iranian Hazfi Cup
Iranian association football tournament
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Hazfi Cup (Persian: جام حذفی, romanized: Jām-e Hazfi, lit. 'knockout cup') formerly known as Pahlavi Cup (Persian: جام پهلوی, romanized: Jām-e Pahlavi) is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran.
| |
| Organiser(s) | Iran Football League Organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1976 (as Pahlavi Cup) |
| Region | Iran |
| Teams | 32 |
| Qualifier for | AFC Champions League Two |
| Domestic cup | Iranian Super Cup |
| Current champions | Esteghlal (8th title) |
| Most championships | Esteghlal (8 titles) |
| Broadcaster | |
| Website | hazfi-cup.com persianleague.com |
 2025–26 Hazfi Cup | |
The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Championship. After the revival of the league system, the champion of Iranian league qualified for Asian Club Championship and the winner of Hazfi Cup for Asian Cup Winners' Cup. The Asian Cup Winners' Cup merged with the Asian Champions Cup in 2002–03 to form the AFC Champions League and Iran was initially given two (and later four) slots in this competitions. The FFIRI decided to award one of Iran's AFC Champions League spots to the winner of the Hazfi Cup, and since then, the winners of Hazfi Cup have always been allocated a spot in the AFC Champions League.[1][2] Since 2024 and with the rebranding of the Asian club competitions, the FFIRI decided to send the winner of the Hazfi cup to the AFC Champions League Elite Qualifying play-off.
The competition was founded in 1976 as Pahlavi Cup but after the revolution continued as Hazfi Cup. Esteghlal is the most successful club with eight titles.[3]
Format
The rules for the final were exactly the same as the one for the previous knockout rounds. The tie was contested over two legs with away goals deciding the winner if the two teams were level on goals after the second leg. If the teams could still not be separated at that stage, then extra time would have been played with a penalty shootout (taking place if the teams were still level after that). Since the 2011–12 season, the final is always held as a single match.[4]
Finals
- Key
Performance by finalists
- source: [5]
| # | Club | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esteghlal | 8 | 7 | 1977, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2018, 2025 | 1991, 1999, 2004, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2023 |
| 2 | Persepolis | 7 | 2 | 1988, 1992, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2023 | 2006, 2013 |
| 3 | Sepahan | 5 | – | 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2024 | — |
| 4 | Zob Ahan | 4 | 1 | 2003, 2009, 2015, 2016 | 2001 |
| 5 | Malavan | 3 | 5 | 1976, 1987, 1991 | 1988, 1989, 1992, 2011, 2025 |
| 6 | Tractor | 2 | 3 | 2014, 2020 | 1976, 1995, 2017 |
| 7 | Bahman | 1 | 2 | 1995 | 1997, 2000 |
| Fajr Sepasi | 1 | 2 | 2001 | 2002, 2003 | |
| 9 | Bargh | 1 | 1 | 1997 | 1996 |
| Saba[b] | 1 | 1 | 2005 | 2007 | |
| Naft Tehran | 1 | 1 | 2017 | 2015 | |
| 12 | Shahin Ahvaz | 1 | – | 1989 | — |
| Saipa | 1 | – | 1994 | — | |
| Foolad | 1 | – | 2021 | — | |
| Nassaji | 1 | – | 2022 | — | |
| 16 | Damash[c] | – | 2 | — | 2008, 2019 |
| 17 | Homa | – | 1 | — | 1977 |
| Kheybar | – | 1 | — | 1987 | |
| Jonoob | – | 1 | — | 1994 | |
| Aboomoslem | – | 1 | — | 2005 | |
| Rah Ahan | – | 1 | — | 2009 | |
| Gostaresh Foolad | – | 1 | — | 2010 | |
| Shahin Bushehr | – | 1 | — | 2012 | |
| Mes Kerman | – | 1 | — | 2014 | |
| Khooneh be Khooneh | – | 1 | — | 2018 | |
| Aluminium Arak | – | 1 | — | 2022 | |
| Mes Rafsanjan | – | 1 | — | 2024 |
Statistics
Winners by Province
- source: [5]
| Province | Winners | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Tehran | 19 |
Esteghal (8), Persepolis (7), Bahman[d] (1), Saba[e] (1), Naft Tehran (1), Saipa (1) |
| Isfahan | 9 |
Sepahan (5), Zob Ahan (4) |
| Gilan | 3 |
Malavan (3) |
| East Azerbaijan | 2 |
Tractor (2) |
| Fars | 2 |
Fajr Sepasi (1), Bargh (1) |
| Khuzestan | 2 |
Shahin Ahvaz (1), Foolad (1) |
| Mazandaran | 1 |
Nassaji (1) |
Winners by City
- source: [6]
| City | Winners | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Tehran | 18 |
Esteghal (8), Persepolis (7), Saba[e] (1), Naft Tehran (1), Saipa (1) |
| Isfahan | 9 |
Sepahan (5), Zob Ahan (4) |
| Bandar-e Anzali | 3 |
Malavan (3) |
| Tabriz | 2 |
Tractor (2) |
| Shiraz | 2 |
Fajr Sepasi (1), Bargh (1) |
| Ahvaz | 2 |
Shahin Ahvaz (1), Foolad (1) |
| Karaj | 1 |
Bahman (1) |
| Qaemshahr | 1 |
Nassaji (1) |
Topscorers
Per season
| Year | Player | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-77 |  Gholamhossein Mazloumi |
7 | Shahin Tehran |
| 1991-92 | Farshad Pious |
8 | Persepolis |
| 2005–06 | Mehrzad Madanchi |
7 | Persepolis |
| 2006–07 | |||
| 2007–08 | Arash Borhani |
4 | Esteghlal |
| 2008–09 | Arash Borhani |
5 | Esteghlal |
| 2009–10 | Mohammad Ghazi Mehdi Seyed-Salehi Mohsen Khalili |
4 | Zob Ahan Esteghlal Persepolis |
| 2010–11 | |||
| 2011–12 | |||
| 2012–13 | Mohammad Nouri |
5 | Persepolis |
| 2013–14 | |||
| 2014–15 | Mehdi Rajabzadeh |
4 | Zob Ahan |
| 2015–16 | Alimohammad Cheraghi Sajjad Shahbazzadeh Issa Alekasir |
4 | Shahrdari Mashhad Esteghlal Naft Tehran |
| 2016–17 | Mohammad Ghazi |
6 | Naft Tehran |
| 2017–18 | Sajjad Feizollahi Mehdi Sharifi |
5 | Iranjavan Bushehr Persepolis |
| 2018–19 | |||
| 2019–20 | Alimohammad Cheraghi |
5 | Shahrdari Mahshahr |
| 2020–21 | |||
| 2021–22 | |||
| 2022–23 |  Giorgi Gvelesiani |
4 | Persepolis |
| 2023–24 | Issa Alekasir |
3 | Sepahan |
| 2024–25 | Ahmadi Tifkan Salman Bahrani Hadi Dehghani |
3 | Shahrdari Bandar Abbas Shahrdari Nowshahr Foolad Hormozgan |
All-time scorers
| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farshad Pious |
23 |
| 2 | Mohammad Nouri |
18 |
| - | Arash Borhani |
18 |
| 4 | Gholamreza Enayati |
16 |
| 5 | Issa Alekasir |
15 |
| 6 | Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht |
14 |
| - | Mohammad Ahmadzadeh |
14 |
Winning managers
See also
Notes
- Saba was formerly named Saba Battery in the Hazfi Cup.
- Bahman held its home matches in Karaj. Before the formation of Alborz province in 2010, Karaj was one of the cities of Tehran province; Therefore, Bahman team was one of the representatives of Tehran province during the championship.
- Saba Battery moved to Qom (Capital of Qom province) in 2008 and its name was changed to Saba. however Saba team was one of the representatives of Tehran city and province during the championship.
