Marziyeh Jafari named 2025 AFC Women Coach of the Year

TEHRAN – History was made at the AFC Awards Riyadh 2025 on Thursday as Marziyeh Jafari became the first-ever AFC Coach of the Year (Women) winner from Iran.

An esteemed name in the Asian coaching landscape, Jafari was honored for successfully leading Iran through the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 Qualifiers, sealing a second consecutive appearance at the Continental showpiece after their debut in 2022.

Requiring nothing less than victory in their final Group Stage showdown against Jordan, Jafari masterminded a vital 2-1 win to seal qualification—a feat made more remarkable by the fact that she had only taken charge around three months prior.

The 43-year-old, only the third nominee from Iran after Shahrzad Mozafar (2010) and Katayoun Khosrowyar (2019), is now the 15th winner of this accolade, which also recognized her achievements at club level with Bam Khatoon Women’s FC.

Before helming Iran women’s national team, Jafari had led Bam Khatoon from the Preliminary Stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League 2024/25 all the way to the Quarter-finals.

That was the latest feather in the cap for the Bam native, who started her coaching path at just 17 and has been the guiding force behind Bam Khatoon’s success after joining in 2008. Promotion to the top flight followed in 2009, before Jafari went on to win the first of 11 league titles in 2011, with the most recent crown coming in March 2025.