Sadness is expected at a World Cup.
Behind every moment of glory, there is a story of hard luck — a nation lamenting its fate and the injustices that led to its downfall.
Still, few situations compare to the cruelty that Iran faced in this World Cup.
Facing unprecedented challenges before the ball even rolled, the team led by coach Amir Ghalenoei came very close to the knockout spot — only to see it slip away at the last moment… not once, but twice.
Despite being undefeated in the group stage, Iran lost their place in the knockout stage due to goal difference. But the story of its elimination was even worse…
IRAN’S SAVING GOAL IN SUPPRESSION IS CANCELLED
After draws against New Zealand and Belgium, Iran knew that a victory over Egypt in Seattle would guarantee qualification for the knockout stages.
Iran started losing early, but reacted well. And although striker Mehdi Taremi missed a penalty, Ramin Rezaeian tied the game with a precise shot from almost no angle.
The match remained tied until second-half stoppage time, when Iranian Shoja Khalilzadeh scored a goal after confusion in the area.
The goal was widely celebrated, with Khalilzadeh taking off his shirt — for which he received a yellow card — and posing for a photo with sunglasses.
However, the joy soon turned to anguish when the goal was disallowed for offside. The offside was on the limit — with Khalilzadeh’s toe slightly in front of Egypt’s penultimate defender.
The match ended 1-1, which meant that Iran would have to wait for the outcome of other games to find out whether they would advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time.
GOAL IN THE 51ST MINUTES OF THE 2ND HALF ELIMINATES IRAN
Iran had to wait until the final group stage games to find out their fate. Algeria against Austria was the decisive clash — and a victory for either team would favor Iran.
A thrilling game looked set to end 2-2, eliminating Iran, until Riyad Mahrez’s sprint towards goal put Algeria ahead in the 48th minute.
With just a few moments remaining, Iran was again very close to the spot. But the drama didn’t end there. In a last attack, Austria managed to equalize with a header from Sasa Kalajdzic, with just a few seconds remaining.
For the second time in 24 hours, Iran’s joy was taken away at the last moment.
Senegal’s superior goal difference guaranteed the Africans the last place among the third placed teams. Cape Verde, who like Iran had drawn all three group stage games, advanced in second place in Group H.
‘THE HOST COUNTRY TREATED US VERY UNFAIRLY’
The fact that Iran came so close to qualifying is remarkable in itself, considering the unique obstacles they had to overcome. Iran competed in the World Cup amid the country’s conflict with the USA and Israel.
The team’s training base for the World Cup was moved from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, before the start of the tournament, and the team faced travel restrictions throughout the competition.
Iran were only allowed into the US the day before their first two games and had to leave again on the same day of the match under the terms of their visas. Ghalenoei later described his team as the “most oppressed” in the tournament.
He said the squad was “deprived” of preparation time and had “less than half” the required training window, while other teams enjoyed normal conditions.
Those travel restrictions were relaxed for the game in Seattle, allowing the team to arrive two days early, but had to return to Tijuana after the game.
After the game, Ghalenoei expressed his frustration again: “To my players and the team, I want to say that I am proud of them.”
“What these young people, these players did should be recorded in history, because the host country treated us very unfairly.”
“Despite all these problems, we managed to perform well and the world is proud of the Iranians and our team.”
“Appeal to FIFA: don’t let hosts treat players and teams the same at future World Cups.”
We use artificial intelligence to translate this report, originally written in English. The text was reviewed by a BBC journalist before publication. This text was originally published here.
