Tehran Derby

The Tehran derby (Persian: شهرآورد تهران, romanized: Shahrāvard-i Tehrān), also known as Blue-Red derby (Persian: شهرآورد سرخابی, romanized: Shahrāvard-i Sorkhābi), is a football match between the two prominent Tehran clubs Esteghlal and Persepolis.

It is widely considered the major crosstown derby in the Persian Gulf Pro League. This match was declared as the most important derby in Asia and 22nd most important derby in the world in June 2008 by World Soccer magazine.^[1][2][3] It is considered one of the world's most intense derbies.^[4]

The first derby match between the teams took place on April 5, 1968, at Amjadieh Stadium, where the game finished as a scoreless draw. At the time, Esteghlal was known as Taj SC. Both clubs were relatively young . The rivalry between Shahin and Taj was transferred to its current stage when the Shahin club had to cease operations due to poor relations with the IFF.

Over time, the rivalry became more heated and club fans began attaining collective identities. By the mid-1970s Persepolis was seen as a working class club, while Taj was viewed as a club close to the ruling establishment and supported by the upper class of Iranian society.

Due to the sensitive nature of the matches, fan violence has occurred several times. In minor cases, fans break chairs or throw garbage at the field, but in some cases, fans have stormed the field of play, physical fights between opposing teams and fans have broken out, and public property has been destroyed.

Ever since 1995, federation officials have invited foreign referees to officiate the game to ease fan and player suspicions of referee bias. This occurred after the events of the 39th derby (see below).

Azadi Stadium has been the stadium where most of the matches took place, but Amjadieh Stadium (now Shiroudi) in Tehran and Sahand Stadium in Tabriz have all hosted the game at least once.

Hassan Rowshan from Esteghlal F.C., at the age of 18 years and 357 days is yet the youngest player ever who has scored a goal in the Tehran derby. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Persepolis F.C. On May 25, 1974. Ali Alipour, at the age of 19 years and 185 days, became the youngest Persepolis F.C. player ever to score in Tehran derby. He scored the only goal in their 1–0 victory on May 15, 2010.

• Persepolis 4 – Taj 1 (February 4, 1972) – This was Persepolis's first win in the derby match, which was also a Goalfull match. First time Persepolis beat its rival with 4 goals.

• Persepolis 6 – Taj 0 (September 7, 1973) – Best ever result in Tehran derby.

• Esteghlal 1 – Persepolis 0 (October 7, 1983) – Iranian television broadcaster IRIB did not air the match so a large number of fans flocked to Azadi Stadium. An estimated 128,000 entered the 100,000-capacity stadium. So many fans were in attendance that some were forced to climb the metal base of the stadium floodlights. None of the derby matches to this date have had a higher attendance and mostly likely never will as the 2002 renovations of the stadium reduced its capacity.

• Esteghlal 2 – Persepolis 2 (January 20, 1995) – In the 39th derby Persepolis was leading in the match by a score of 2–0 until the last 10 minutes of the match. Esteghlal scored 2 goals in quick succession, including one which was a penalty. This angered the Persepolis fans and players who felt the referee was biased towards Esteghlal. Persepolis fans stormed the field, and a number of fights broke out on the pitch between fans and players. After this match it was decided that Iranian referees will no longer be used for the derby.

• Persepolis 3 – Esteghlal 0 (July 11, 1997) – One of the most one-sided derby matches for the two teams. Persepolis dominated the match with scoring 3 goals by Edmond Bezik, Mehdi Mahdavikia and Behnam Taherzadeh. In addition to this 3 goals, Persepolis also hit the post bar for 3 times. Persepolis won Esteghlal 2 times back and forth in this league season and won championship at the end.

• Persepolis 2 – Esteghlal 2 (December 29, 2000) – The game was extremely sensitive as Mehdi Hasheminasab had left Persepolis in the off-season for Esteghlal as Ali Parvin kicked him out because he was scared Hasheminasab would break his record so he left and after leaving Persepolis fans hit Hasheminasab’s mom harshly. Behrouz Rahbarifar opened up the scoring in minute 56, while Mohammad Navazi tied the game up at the 67th minute. Some thought the game would be over when Hasheminasab scored a late goal at minute 86, but Ali Karimi saved Persepolis scoring a goal at minute 89 to please the red fans. During the game Esteghlal's goalkeeper Parviz Broumand and Persepolis striker Payan Rafat were constantly insulting each other. This eventually led to Broumand punching Rafat in the face and giving him a black eye. A massive fight broke out between the players. After the match hooligans went on a rampage. They destroyed 250 city buses and damaged multiple shops. Three players from each side were arrested along with 60 fans for their behavior.

As of 5 December 2025, there have been 106 competitive first-class meetings between the two teams since the first league meeting in 1969. In all 99 official competitive meetings since 1968, Esteghlal has won 23 and Persepolis 29.

• Total: Esteghlal with 16 higher finishes, Persepolis with 24 higher finishes (till end of the 2024–25 Persian Gulf Pro League)

As of 5 December 2025

Since the first match in 1968, Tehran Derby matches have been held in 5 stadiums, including 3 outside Tehran. The following table shows the details of the stadiums that hosted the Tehran Derby.

Friendly matches are not included in the following records unless otherwise noted.

• Players in bold are still active for Esteghlal or Persepolis.

League = "Iranian Leagues" ; Cup = "Hazfi Cup" ; Region = "Tehran Competitions" ; Other = "Friendlies" or "Exhibitions"

• Players in bold are still active for Esteghlal or Persepolis.

A hat-trick is achieved when the same player scores three goals in one match. Listed in chronological order.

A Brace is achieved when the same player scores two goals in one match. Listed in chronological order.

Friendly matches are not included in the following records unless otherwise noted.

The IFFHS Asian Player of the Year is an annual prize presented by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). It had originally been the predecessor of the AFC Player of the Year, but was revived in 2020.

The AFC Player of the Year is an annual prize presented by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is awarded to the Asian player who has the best performance at AFC club(s) in a calendar year.

Best Footballer in Asia is an annual association football award organized and presented by Titan Sports. It is awarded to the player who had the best performance for Asian football during the calendar year.

Over the years, a number of players have played for both of the heavily supported clubs. Switching sides often angers fans, and players who have done so are heavily booed and mocked in and out of the stadium. When Mehdi Hasheminasab joined Esteghlal, Persepolis fans booed and swore at him so loudly that he covered his face with his hands to hide his tears.

• Markus Merk
• Kim Young-Joo
• Sándor Puhl
• Jamal Al Sharif
• Omer Al Mehannah
• Abdul Rahman Al-Zeid
• Rudolf Scheurer
• Jack Taylor

• List of Tehran Derby matches

• The battle of Tehran FIFA
• "Football, blood and war" The Observer, 18 January 2004, accessed 11 October 2006
• "The Red 'Victors' and the 'Independent' Blues" FIFA Magazine, 31 October 2002, accessed 11 October 2006
• (in Persian) "59 بازی حاصل 37 سال رقابت سرخ و آبی" Fars News Agency, 8 March 2006, accessed 11 October 2006
• (in Persian) "پرسپوليس ، استقلال از نگاه آمار" Aftab Yazd, 8 March 2006, accessed 11 October 2006
• (in Persian) "در حاشيه ي بازيهاي سرخابي ازگذشته هاي دورتا امروز" Tebyan.net, 2 November 2005, accessed 11 October 2006

• Profile at Football derbies.com
• Statistics on Persepolis Official Website