Iran road to qualification for the FIFA World Cup 1998 France was protracted, bumpy, dramatic and highly emotional. This was the most exciting campaign of Iran’s football in the history of any competition.Never in the history of FIFA a team had to play 27 matches to qualify for the finals, Team Melli did it and the end result was something for the whole nation to be proud of and will remain in the memory and the history books for a long time.