Iran finishes third in Group G at the 2026 World Cup: “They would want us to be eliminated”

MA lap of honor ended this Friday in Seattle, although it was not yet certain whether it would also be a farewell lap. Iran’s national team once again walked through the Lumen Field, the gigantic World Cup stadium: The scoreboard showed a 1-1 draw against Egypt, which meant that Iran could still hope to advance to third place in Group G for one World Cup day. But in the walk of the Iranian players, in the face of Amir Ghalenoei, who sat petrified on his coaching bench, and in the tears of the Iranians in the stadium, one could see little hope in these moments.

Shortly before, events had come to a head: In the 89th minute, a header from striker Mehdi Taremi onto the crossbar woke up the game, which had been slowly twilight. Three minutes later there was a chaotic situation in the Egyptian penalty area, from which Shoja Khalilzadeh gave Iran the lead. In Seattle all the dams burst, Khalilzadeh stormed to the bench, where a crowd of cheers formed. He celebrated with sunglasses on his nose and took a photo with a supervisor. It took just under a minute before the VAR vetoed it and decided: the defender’s toe was offside and the goal was overturned.

The Iranians then ran again, another cross flew into the Egyptian penalty area and: In the 98th minute, Ezatolahi hit the crossbar. This long day of football ended with a drama.

The political context in which this Iranian football match took place in the USA was a US retaliatory action against the Iranian regime in the Middle East. The US military’s Central Command announced in the early afternoon (Seattle time) that it had attacked military targets in Iran because the regime had violated the ceasefire with an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. And for that reason alone it was a challenge to perceive this game free of its political context.

There were many heartfelt scenes on Friday in Seattle, where two diasporas met: Egyptian fans danced and sang in front of the stadium alongside Iranian fans. In addition to the country flags, rainbow colors could be seen. This game was declared a “Pride Match”, which was sharply criticized by the respective national associations, but was then celebrated with considerable community by the spectators. Iran’s captain Taremi later said that while his religion “does not accept” these sexual orientations, he “respects all the LGBTQ people.” This is how the many different groups mixed together, including Christian preachers and bearers of Palestine flags.

Demonstrators against the Iranian regime could also be seen in Seattle – as they did at the games in Los Angeles. They brought with them pictures of young Iranian footballers who had been killed by the regime during the protests in the country.

Boos could be heard again during the anthem. And the Iranians in the stadium also positioned themselves with flags: you could see those with the red national coat of arms in the middle – and those of the old empire, with the lion and the sun in the middle. Politics was omnipresent, but sport quickly claimed attention, at least temporarily, with an eventful opening phase.

Iran has never reached the knockout stages of a World Cup

A shot from Egypt’s Mohamed Salah was first deflected, then inadequately saved by Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, and Mahmoud Saber scored in the follow-up to take the lead after just five minutes.

However, out of nowhere, the Iranians were given the opportunity to respond. In the ninth minute, Mehdi Taremi, who had previously been fouled, went for a penalty, but was denied by goalkeeper Oufa Shoubeir – and was still able to celebrate shortly afterwards. Ramin Rezaeian, Iran’s best player at this World Cup, brought his team back into the game in the 14th minute by converting a follow-up shot from a tight angle. And with that, for the first time on this long day, some calm returned: the Iranians also seemed satisfied with this draw. Until the final stages brought them close to victory, making the draw one of the painful sort.

“I don’t know what’s happening to Iranian football, why we’re not lucky,” said Rezaeian, who was named the best player of the game: “The people of Iran deserve more joy, we wanted to give them that. Now I hope that God will give us the luck to move forward.” Iran has never reached the knockout stages of a World Cup. In view of the difficult circumstances, this success would now be rated even higher. However, whether this step will be successful in the seventh participation depends on several other teams.

While Belgium progressed as winners of Group G and Egypt as runners-up, Iran is currently in sixth place in the third-place rankings and needs support. Uzbekistan must beat Congo or Austria and Algeria must not play a draw or Croatia must lose to Ghana. If one of these three cases occurs, Iran will qualify for the round of 16.

After the game, Iran’s team has to travel straight back to Mexico – a continuation of the restrictions imposed by the USA

However, it will remain unclear for at least 24 hours whether the Iranian trip, which has been characterized by so much uncertainty and restrictions by the USA in recent weeks, will continue. The fact that the Iranians were allowed to compete in Seattle under somewhat milder circumstances, with a little more time to prepare in the USA than at previous games, could not distract from the fact that, from their point of view, this World Cup is “a disaster,” as Taremi emphasized. “Mr. Infantino came to our dressing room after the first game and said it was just the beginning. But FIFA didn’t do anything,” said Taremi. “Now the group stage is over and we still don’t have our logisticians, our media, our vice president here who can’t get visas.”

The long day was not yet over for the Iranian players: According to captain Taremi, a return trip from Seattle to the team headquarters in Tijuana was still ahead. He seemed visibly tired, not only because of the exhausting game, but also in view of the recurring narrative: “We have no support, nobody helps us, how are we supposed to recover after a game like that?” Taremi said, and expressed his suspicions about the USA: “We have to fight against everything here. And yes, from our perspective: They would want us to be eliminated.”

Coach Amir Ghalenoei also said that although bad luck led to this draw, the “big difficulties” at the tournament had played their part. His anger was clearly palpable at the press conference after the Egypt game. “They treated us terribly. We should have entered the country much earlier, but they prevented that,” said Ghalenoei and, considering the return journey, stated: “We are losing time for regeneration. We are the most oppressed team in the entire World Cup.” It will soon be decided whether this tournament will continue for them at all.