Zahra Ghanbari
|
Ghanbari with Persepolis in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Zahra Ghanbari | ||
| Date of birth | 4 March 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Kangavar, Kermanshah, Iran | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position | Forward[1] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Persepolis | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| ? | Ghaz Al-Shamal SC | ||
| 2013–2025 | Bam Khatoon FC | ||
| 2020–21 | Vechan Kurdistan | ||
| 2025-2026 | Persepolis WFC | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008 | Iran U19 | 1+ | (2) |
| 2007– | Iran | (22) | |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals as of March 2026 | |||
Zahra Ghanbari (Persian: زهرا قنبری;[1] born 4 March 1992) is an Iranian footballer who plays as a forward for Kowsar Women Football League club Persepolis and the Iran national team. She is Iran's national team's all-time top goalscorer.
Early life and education
Zahra Ghanbari[2] was born on 4 March 1992[1] in Kangavar, Kermanshah, Iran.[3][1] Kermanshah is the largest Kurdish-populated city in Iran and one of the most significant urban centres of Kurdish culture in the region,[4] and Ghanbari is Kurdish.[5]
Club career
Ghanbari has played in Iraq for the Ghaz Al-Shamal SC women's team (North Gas Sports Club) team in Kirkuk, which plays in the Iraqi Women's Football League.[1]
In Iran, she has played for Bam Khatoon F.C. (formerly known as Shahrdari Bam) since at least 2013. She played for Vechan Kurdistan in 2020/2021.[6][5]
Ghanbari played for Bam Khatoon in the 2023 AFC Women's Club Championship and the 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League, scoring one goal in the latter tournament.[2] In November 2024, Ghanbari was briefly suspended by the Iranian federation and forced to apologise for "improper hijab" during a goal celebration at the 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League. After being forced to apologise, she was allowed to return to the team.[7][8]
She moved to Persepolis in 2025.[8]
International career
Ghanbari is Iran's national team's all-time top goalscorer.[9][8]
She played for the international team in the following tournaments (number of goals in parentheses):[2]
- AFC Women's Asian Cup 2008 (1), 2018 (6), 2022 (0)
- AFC U-19 Women's Championship 2009 (2)
- Women's Olympic Football Tournament 2020 (6)
- AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 (0)
- AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026
On 9 March 2026, after the national team was eliminated from the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia, Ghanbari (who played in all three games), along with four teammates from the Iranian women's national football team, left the team's training camp in Australia and sought asylum. This was due to concerns about possible retaliation from Iranian authorities after the team had refrained from singing the national anthem after the opening game, which was shortly after the start of the 2026 Iran war.[10] The Australian Government granted humanitarian visas to the players.[8] On 15 March, Iranian state media reported that Ghanbari had withdrawn her asylum application and would return to Iran via Malaysia.[11]
Career statistics
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 October 2011 | Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE | Lebanon | 8–1 | 8–1 | 2011 WAFF Women's Championship |
| 2. | 5 April 2017 | Vietnam YFT Center, Hanoi, Vietnam | Singapore | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification |
| 3. | 9 April 2017 | Vietnam | 1–0 | 1–6 | ||
| 4. | 11 April 2017 | Syria | 1–0 | 12–0 | ||
| 5. | 5–0 | |||||
| 6. | 9–0 | |||||
| 7. | 11–0 | |||||
| 8. | 8 November 2018 | Institute of Physical Education Stadium, Chonburi, Thailand | Lebanon | 2–0 | 8–0 | 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament |
| 9. | 4–0 | |||||
| 10. | 6–0 | |||||
| 11. | 25 November 2018 | Milliy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Afghanistan | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2018 CAFA Women's Championship |
| 12. | 3–0 | |||||
| 13. | 6 April 2019 | Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar | Palestine | 7–0 | 9–0 | 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament |
| 14. | 8–0 | |||||
| 15. | 9 April 2019 | Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar | Chinese Taipei | 1–4 | 1–4 | |
| 16. | 15 November 2022 | Ararat Stadium, Tehran, Iran | Belarus | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 17. | 10 June 2025 | National Football Center Field 2, Tehran, Iran | Iraq | 3–0 | 8–0 | |
| 18. | 5–0 | |||||
| 19. | ?–0 | |||||
| 20. | 10 July 2025 | King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan | Singapore | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification |
| 21. | 13 July 2025 | Bhutan | 5–1 | 7–1 | ||
| 22. | 24 October 2025 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong, India | Nepal | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
References
- ^ a b c d e "زهرا قنبری" (in Persian). Archived from the original on 9 February 2026. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "ZAHRA GHANBARI". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ^ "Zahra Ghanbari". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ Pourhassan, Narges; Bagherabadi, Rahim (2019). "Representation of Iranian National Identity Among Kermanshah's Kurdish Intellectuals". National Studies Journal. 20 (4): 3–18.
- ^ a b "می خواهم دَینم را به کُردها ادا کنم (I want to give my faith to the Kurds)". Iranian Students' News Agency. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020.
...the captain of the Iranian women's national football team, joined the Kurdistan team with a one-year contract ...The conditions of other clubs were better than the team and the Sanandaj team, but because I am Kurdish myself,... (via Firefox translator)
- ^ "حضور برترین گلزن لیگ در تیم فوتبال وچان (The presence of the league's top scorer in the football team of Wechan)". Borna News Agency. Archived from the original on 4 April 2024.
Zahra Ghanbari, the Kermanshahi striker of the municipality of Bam, last season's champion of the Premier League and the record of women's football scoring, will sign a one-year contract with the representative of Kurdistan this season. This is while there was some whispers of Ghanbari joining Sirjan Municipality, but this morning, the news of the player's agreement with Vachan Sanandaj was officially announced. (via Firefox translator)
- ^ "Iranian Footballer Suspended and Forced to Apologize for Headscarf Mishap". IranWire. 1 November 2024. Archived from the original on 25 October 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d Healy, Jon (10 March 2026). "Who are the Iranian Women's Asian Cup players granted asylum by Australia?". ABC News. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ^ @afcasiancup; (26 December 2021). "1️⃣3️⃣ x ⚽️ Zahra Ghanbari is 🇮🇷 Team Melli Baanovaan's highest goal-scorer 🔥" – via Instagram.
- ^ "Australia urged to offer Iran women's team refuge amid fears of backlash after refusing to sing anthem". The National. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "Iran women's football captain withdraws Australia asylum bid: state media". France 24. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
External links
- Zahra Ghanbari at Soccerway