Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh

Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh (; born 11 September 1973) is an Iranian football coach and former player who manages Persian Gulf Pro League club Esteghlal. As a player, he played as a centre-back and represented several clubs in Iran, including Esteghlal, Foolad and Saba Qom. He also represented the Iran national team and was part of the squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. After retiring from professional football, Bakhtiarizadeh moved into coaching and has worked with several clubs in Iranian football.

Club career He started his professional career with playing for Khuzestani clubs, before moving to Esteghlal FC. After a couple of seasons, he elected to play professionally in Turkish league. The move was far from successful and Sohrab left this club in controversial circumstances.

He returned to Esteghlal soon after. His lack of playing time caused him to be transferred to Foolad. After a season there he moved to Saba Battery. Along with the likes of Ali Daei and Mohammad Navazi, Sohrab won the Hazfi Cup in 2004/05 season and hence qualified for the Asian Champions League.

In August 2007, Bakhtiarzadeh was transferred to the newly formed club Pas Hamedan. He only played one match and had many differences with the club where he left the club and moved to Foolad for the season after and did not play in many matches. He moved to Saba for the season after.

Bakhtiarizadeh endured a major injury, and was out for many games during 2010–11 season.

Personal life On 7 January 2026, Bakhtiarizadeh publicly supported the 2025–2026 Iranian protests on his Instagram, stating: "This is the anger of a nation that saw before its eyes that your aghazadeh devoured the people's wealth. They took billions of their rights with a lot of force." On 9 February 2026, he publicly objected to being included on a list of supporters of the 1979 Islamic Revolution by the Ministry of Sport and Youth, ahead of the Revolution's anniversary.

Club career statistics

Assist Goals

International career He made his debut for Iran in October 1997 in a World Cup 1998 qualification game against Qatar in Tehran. He was not included in Iran's final squad for the 1998 Fifa World Cup, but he was an on-and-off starter for the national team until 2003, when he lost his spot. He scored the last goal in the final of WAFF 2000 where Team Melli won the competition. His brilliant performance in the IPL 2005/06 season was rewarded by a recall to duty after a three-year absence from Team Melli. He appeared in two of Iran's games in the 2006 World Cup, starting against Angola and scoring Iran's only goal in the game. He was called up to the national team again after the World Cup, by new manager Amir Ghalenoei, but did not participate. He has since retired from international football and only participates in club play.

International goals Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 2 June 2000 King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan 1–0 1–0 2000 WAFF Championship 2. 24 November 2000 Takhti Stadium, Tabriz, Iran 8–0 19–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 3. 14–0 4. 21 June 2006 Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany 1–1 1–1 2006 FIFA World CupCorrect as of 13 December 2017

Managerial statistics

Honours

Club Esteghlal Hazfi Cup: 1999–2000, 2001–02

Saba Hazfi Cup: 2004–05 Super Cup: 2005

National Iran WAFF Championship: 2000