World Freestyle Wrestling Championship trophy awarded to Iran / Iran climbs to 20th in latest FIFA rankings

Pars Today – The championship trophy for the 2015 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in the United States was officially handed over to Iran after two years of persistent follow-up by the Iranian Wrestling Federation. The trophy was presented by the United World Wrestling federation to Hassan Rangraz, Iran’s representative, on the sidelines of the Mongolia Ranking Series tournament.

According to Pars Today, citing IRNA, Iran's national freestyle wrestling team had originally finished runner-up at the 2015 World Championships in the United States, winning two silver and two bronze medals and trailing Russia by four points.

However, after Russian wrestler Abdusalam Gadisov, the silver medalist in the 97-kilogram category, tested positive for doping, the results and team standings of the competition were reviewed.

Following the revision of the team scores, Iran's national freestyle wrestling team was awarded the world title with 49 points, while Georgia and Russia finished second and third with 46 and 44 points, respectively.

The title marked Iran's seventh world championship in the history of freestyle wrestling.

New FIFA rankings: Iran climbs to 20th in the world

In other news, the national football team of the Iran moved up one place to 20th in the latest update of the FIFA World Rankings, with 1,619.58 points.

Following its recent victories—particularly a win over The Gambia and a successful friendly match against Mali—Iran gained enough points to rise one position in the FIFA standings.

Under a new FIFA initiative introduced two months before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, national team rankings are now updated after every match, providing a more dynamic reflection of teams' performances leading up to the tournament.