Hossein Kanaanizadegan

Mohammad Hossein "Kanaani" Kanaanizadegan (Persian: محمد حسین کنعانی زادگان; born 23 March 1994) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and Iran national team.^[2][3]

Hossein Kanaanizadegan

Kanani Zadegan in Persepolis training in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Mohammad Hossein Kanaanizadegan[1]
Date of birth	(1994-03-23) 23 March 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Bandar-e Mahshahr, Iran
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s)	Centre back / Right back
Team information
Current team	Persepolis
Number	6
Youth career
2009–2013	Persepolis
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2016	Persepolis	1	(0)
2013–2014	→ Beira-Mar (loan)	0	(0)
2014–2016	→ Malavan (loan)	47	(3)
2016–2017	Esteghlal	2	(0)
2017–2018	Saipa	7	(3)
2018–2019	Machine Sazi	27	(1)
2019–2021	Persepolis	51	(2)
2021–2023	Al Ahli	41	(7)
2023–	Persepolis	39	(8)
International career‡
2008–2011	Iran U17	25	(3)
2011–2012	Iran U20	19	(1)
2014–2016	Iran U23	5	(1)
2015–	Iran	57	(6)
Medal record Representing  Iran CAFA Nations Cup Winner 2023 Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Club career

Persepolis

He joined Persepolis in January 2012. He signed a 2+1⁄2-year contract until the end of 2013–14 season with the club.^[4] He made his debut for Persepolis as a starter against Foolad in the final fixture of the 2011–12 Iran Pro League.^[5] He played for Persepolis U21 in AFC Vision Asia U21 Tehran Premier League.

Loan to Beira Mar

Kanaani joined Portuguese club Beira Mar on loan in August 2013, but due to work permit issues he returned to Iran without playing a match.

Loan to Malavan

He joined Malavan on a two–year loan to spend his conscription period in summer 2014. Kanaani scored his first goal for Malavan in a 1–1 draw against Esteghlal.

Esteghlal

In May 2016, after completing his two–year conscription period at Malavan, it was thought Kanaani would return to his original club, Persepolis. However, Kanaani rejected Persepolis' offer and joined rivals Esteghlal. Shortly after joining the club, Kanaani suffered a season-ending injury after only playing two games. He was released by Esteghlal at the end of the season having only played two games for the club.

Saipa

He played the 2017–18 season for Saipa FC.^[6]

Machine Sazi

He joined Machine Sazi for the 2018–19 season.^[7] He finished the 2018–19 Persian Gulf Pro League at Machine Sazi F.C. with 27 appearances and 1 goal.

Persepolis

Kanaanizadegan celebrating his goal against Naft Abadan in September 2019

On 7 July 2019, Kanaanizadegan signed a two-year^[8] contract with Persian Gulf Pro League champions Persepolis.^[9][10] Kanaanizadegan scored his first goal for Persepolis in a 1–0 victory over Sanat Naft Abadan on 16 September 2019.^[11][12][13]

Al Ahli

On 2 August 2021, Kanaanizadegan joined Qatari top flight football club Al Ahli on a two-year deal.^[14][15][16] His performance in the new team led to new offers from Iran.^[17]

Return to Persepolis

On 8 July 2023, Kanaanizadegan signed a new two-year contract with Persepolis.^[18][19]

International career

Kanaanizadegan playing for Iran at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

U17

He played two matches at the 2010 Asian U16 Championships.

U20

He started in all four games for the 2012 Asian U19 Championship Qualifiers helping the team keep a clean sheet in all of them. He started in Iran's first game during the championships, helping Team Meli keep a clean sheet as well as hitting the bar from 30 meters out. He was part of Iran U–20 during the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualification, 2012 CIS Cup, 2012 AFF U-19 Youth Championship and 2012 AFC U-19 Championship.

U23

He was invited to the Iran U-23 training camp by Nelo Vingada^[20] in preparation for Incheon 2014 and the 2016 AFC U-22 Championship (Summer Olympic qualification). He was named in the Iran U23 final list for Incheon 2014.^[21]

Senior

Kanaanizadegan made his debut against Uzbekistan in a friendly match on 11 June 2015. He also played against Turkmenistan on 16 June 2015. He scored his first goal for the team with the third goal in the 14–0 thrashing of Cambodia in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers on 10 October 2019.^[22] He scored his second goal for the team with a header against Syria on 30 March 2021.^[23] Scored two goals in a friendly against Qatar on the 17th of October, 2023

Career statistics

Club

As of 07 January 2025

Club	Division	Season	League		Hazfi Cup		Asia		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Persepolis	Pro League	2011–12	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		2012–13	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
		2013–14	0	0	0	0			0	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Malavan	Pro League	2014–15	19	1	0	0	—		19	1
		2015–16	28	2	2	0			30	2
Esteghlal		2016–17	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Saipa		2017–18	7	3	0	0	—		7	3
Machine Sazi		2018–19	27	1	2	0			29	1
Total			55	7	4	0	0	0	59	7
Persepolis	Pro League	2019–20	27	1	3	0	2	0	32	1
		2020–21	24	1	2	0	13	1	39	2
	Total		51	2	5	0	15	1	71	3
Al Ahli	QSL	2021–22	20	1	0	0	—		20	1
		2022–23	20	6	1	0			21	6
	Total		41	7	1	0	—		42	7
Persepolis	Pro League	2023–24	26	6	2	0	6	0	34	6
		2024–25	13	2	0	0	4	0	17	2
	Total		39	8	2	0	10	0	51	8
Career Total			213	24	12	0	25	1	250	25

International

As of match played 19 November 2024^[24]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Iran	2015	2	0
	2017	1	0
	2018	3	0
	2019	10	1
	2020	2	0
	2021	10	1
	2022	8	0
	2023	8	2
	2024	13	2
Total		57	6

Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.score column indicates score after each Kanaanizadegan goal ^[25]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 October 2019	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Cambodia	3–0	14–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	30 March 2021		Syria	1–0	3–0	Friendly
3.	17 October 2023	Amman International Stadium, Amman	Qatar	1–0	4–0	2023 Jordan International Tournament
4.				4–0
5.	21 March 2024	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Turkmenistan	1–0	5–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.				3–0

Under-20

International U-20 goals
1	3 November 2012	Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates	Japan	2–0	Win	2012 AFC U-19 Championship

Honours

Persepolis

• Persian Gulf Pro League (3): 2019–20, 2020–21, 2023–24
• Hazfi Cup: Runner-up 2012–13
• Iranian Super Cup (1): 2020
• AFC Champions League runner-up: 2020

Personal life

Due to his long and difficult surname, he is often known as "Kanaani".

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: IR Iran (IRN)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 15. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
2. "Esteghlal signs Persepolis defender Kanaanizadegan". Tehran Times. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
3. "Hossein Kanani Stats, Info and Next Game". FootballCritic. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
4. perspolisnews.com
5. iplstas.com
6. "کنعانی زادگان به سایپا پیوست". iscanews.ir (in Persian). 4 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
7. "کنعانی زادگان به ماشین سازی پیوست". پارس نیوز (in Persian). Retrieved 7 July 2019.
8. "کنعانی‌زادگان با پرسپولیس دو ساله بست". ایسنا (in Persian). 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
9. "ویدیو ورزش سه | کنعانی زادگان : آمده ام همه چیز را جبران کنم". ویدیو ورزش سه (in Persian). 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
10. خبرورزشی (7 July 2019). "کنعانی‌زادگان: عاشق پرسپولیسم؛ ‌می‌خواهم جبران کنم". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 7 July 2019.
11. "لیگ برتر فوتبال| پرسپولیس با شکست صنعت نفت به استقبال دربی 90 رفت/ امتیاز 6 با شماره 6- اخبار ورزشی - اخبار تسنیم - Tasnim". خبرگزاری تسنیم - Tasnim (in Persian). Retrieved 16 September 2019.
12. "گل شماره شش پرسپولیس". www.varzesh3.com. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
13. "AFC Champions League | AFC". the-AFC. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
14. "Persepolis defender Kanaanizadegan joins Qatar's Al Ahli". Tehran Times. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
15. "Iran's Kanaanizadegan Signs for Al-Ahli - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
16. "کنعانی‌زادگان رسما به الاهلی پیوست". ایسنا (in Persian). 4 August 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
17. "کنعانی‌ زادگان فرشته‌ نجات این‌ روزهای الاهلی+فیلم". ایمنا (in Persian). 23 August 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
18. "Kanaanizadegan Joins Persepolis: IPL - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
19. "محمدحسین کنعانی زادگان به پرسپولیس پیوست". خبرگزاری مهر | اخبار ایران و جهان | Mehr News Agency (in Persian). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
20. "لیست ۳۱ نفره وینگادا برای تیم ملی امید". Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
21. "بازیکنان اعزامی تیم ملی امید به اینچئون مشخص شد". ffiri.ir. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
22. "فیلم/ گل سوم ایران به کامبوج توسط کنعانی". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 10 October 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
23. گل اول ایران به سوریه توسط کنعانی زادگان- ویدیو ورزش سه (in Persian), ویدیو ورزش سه, 30 March 2021, retrieved 20 July 2023
24. Hossein Kanaanizadegan at National-Football-Teams.com
25. "Hossein Kanaanizadegan". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

External links

• Hossein Kanaani Archived 20 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at PersianLeague
• Hossein Kanaanizadegan at Soccerway
• https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-champions-league/teams/605/1969/424889
• Hossein Kanaanizadegan on Instagram
• Hossein kanaani
• Hossein kanaani on Telegram