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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
He played the 2017–18 season for Saipa FC.[6]
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.
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]
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]
On 8 July 2023, Kanaanizadegan signed a new two-year contract with Persepolis.[18][19]
He played two matches at the 2010 Asian U16 Championships.
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.
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]
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
| 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 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 3 | ||
| 2025–26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 49 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 9 | ||
| Career Total | 223 | 25 | 13 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 263 | 26 | ||
| 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 | |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 61 | 6 | |
| 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 |
| International U-20 goals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 November 2012 | Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates |  Japan |
2–0 | Win | 2012 AFC U-19 Championship | |
Due to his long and difficult surname, he is often known as "Kanaani".
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