KIA Football Academy

KIA Academy
Full nameKIA Football Academy
Founded2015; 11 years ago (2015)
GroundBe’sat Stadium
Tehran, Iran
Coordinates35°38′49″N 51°27′11″W / 35.6469382°N 51.452926°W / 35.6469382; -51.452926
OwnerMehdi Mahdavikia
CoachHadi Mahdavikia
LeagueLeague 2 (Iran)
2024–25League 2, 7th (Group One)
First colours
Second colours
Current season

The KIA Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال کیا), commonly known as KIA FC, is an Iranian youth football academy that was established by Mehdi Mahdavikia in 2015 in southeastern Tehran.[1]

German magazine 11 Freunde has described it as "the best football academy" in Iran, and unique in terms of being dedicated to "sustainable, conceptual youth work".[1] The club follows the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim-model, i.e. starting at grassroots-level before developing into a team that can enter the professional leagues.[2] Each year, the club scouts more than a thousand players from all across the country and after trials, only retains top 25 talents.[3]

KIA has shown remarkable results since its foundation and frequently travels to Europe in order to play against renowned opponents.[1]

Season-by-season

Season Div. Pos. Hazfi Cup
2020–21 3rd Division 8th
2021–22 2th
2022–23 6th
2023–24 2nd Division 12th Round of 32
2024–25 Second round

Current squads

As of 20 February 2026

First Team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  IRN Mehdi Ramezanpour
3 DF  IRN Mojtaba Mohammadi
4 DF  IRN Amirreza Firouzbakht
5 DF  IRN Peyman Keshavarzi (captain)
6 DF  IRN Amirhossein Ghasemi
7 FW  IRN Mohammadhossein Faraji
8 MF  IRN Meysam Rezaeikia
9 FW  IRN Arshia Hatami
10 FW  IRN Erfan Ghorbani
11 FW  IRN Seyed Mohammadreza Rezaei
12 GK  IRN Alireza Rostamijo
13 MF  IRN Yasin Shokouhipour
14 FW  IRN Amirreza Shokri
16 FW  IRN Mohammadamin Shamsipour
19 FW  IRN Ario Mahdavikia
21 MF  IRN Milad Shabahang
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 DF  IRN Sina Ghasemi
30 MF  IRN Farshad Hashemi
33 MF  IRN Mostafa Sheykh
40 GK  IRN Babak Salamat
44 DF  IRN Parsa Khooshannia
45 FW  IRN Shervin Jafari
49 MF  IRN Soroush Ghanipour
55 DF  IRN Hadi Rafsanjani
66 FW  IRN Hesam Hendi
77 FW  IRN Armin Hassani
80 FW  IRN Elyar Rahmani
84 FW  IRN Mohammad Irannejad
87 FW  IRN Alireza Sharifi
88 DF  IRN Sina Ameri
91 DF  IRN Mohammadali Parsi

Current staff

Current Managers
Manager Hadi Mahdavikia
Goalkeeping Coach Hesam Zeytooninejad
Fitness coach Akbar Bakhtiari
Owner Mehdi Mahdavikia

Honours

Domestic league competitions

League Title(s) Season(s)
U14 National Premier League Winners (1) 2018–2019
Tehran Premier League Winners (2) 2016–2017, 2017–2018
U16 Tehran 1st Division League Winners (1) 2016–2017

International

Cup Title(s) Year(s)
Norway Norway Cup U13 Runners-up (2) 2015,[4] 2016
U11 Winners (1) 2015[5]
Austria Cordial Cup U13 Winners (2) 2018,[6] 2019[7]
U11 Runners-up (1) 2015[4]
Germany Deutsches Fußball Internat U12 Runners-up (1) 2016[8]
Belgium Bassevelde Cup U13 Winners (1) 2019[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Steffen Weiß (12 February 2017), "Zwischen Kult und Chaos", 11 Freunde (in German), archived from the original on 12 February 2017, retrieved 26 January 2018
  2. ^ "مهدوی کیا تیم داری می کند، مثل هوفنهایم!" (in Persian). Khabar Online. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Mondial Pupilles. Les Iraniens veulent monter en puissance", Ouest-France (in French), 10 May 2018, retrieved 26 January 2018
  4. ^ a b "Kia Academy Comes 2nd at Norway Cup", Tasnim News Agency, 31 July 2015, retrieved 26 January 2018
  5. ^ "Inviterte gullvinnerne fra Iran på gratis pizza i Drøbak", psv.nl (in Norwegian), 2 August 2015, retrieved 11 July 2019
  6. ^ "Kia Football Academy U13 win Cordial Cup", Tehran Times, 22 May 2018, retrieved 26 January 2018
  7. ^ "KIA U-13 Football Academy Wins Cordail Cup", Tasnim News Agency, 11 June 2019, retrieved 11 June 2019
  8. ^ "Bayern München macht das Triple perfekt!", rosenheim24.de (in German), 12 June 2016, retrieved 11 June 2019
  9. ^ "PSV O13 vierde op toernooi, Van Duiven eist hoofdrol op bij O14", psv.nl (in Dutch), 3 July 2019, retrieved 11 July 2019
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIA_Football_Academy