Shoja Khalilzadeh thought he had fired Iran into the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in their history. His stoppage-time strike against Egypt in Seattle sparked wild celebrations on the pitch and among the travelling fans. But the video assistant referee intervened, ruling the goal offside, and Iran’s hopes of automatic qualification were extinguished. Saeid Ezatolah had earlier headed against the bar, and the 1-1 draw meant Iran must now wait on other results to see if they advance as one of the best third-placed sides.
For Iran’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, the frustration went far beyond the scoreline. In his post-match press conference, he reiterated his belief that the United States, as co-hosts, had treated his team “very unfairly” and demanded that Fifa president Gianni Infantino “stand up” to them. “I know Mr Infantino has tried his best to minimise the problems as much as possible but it was the host that wasn’t very good to us,” Ghalenoei said. “I urge Fifa to not let the hosts treat teams and players the same way in the future. I hope Mr Infantino will actually stand up to such behaviour.”
“VAR denies Iran automatic World Cup last-32 spot as coach Ghalenoei blasts US host treatment and urges Infantino to act.”
Infantino had visited Iran’s dressing room after their Group G opener against New Zealand, telling the squad “you are stronger than everything”. But while Ghalenoei maintains Infantino has tried his utmost to help, little has changed since the tournament began. The head coach previously described Iran as the “most oppressed” team at the World Cup.
Iran’s captain, Mehdi Taremi, was even more blunt, criticising Fifa’s handling of the situation and pointing to the 11 senior officials who were denied entry to the United States. “Since the beginning, it’s a disaster World Cup. I mean, Fifa, they have to solve every problem here but unfortunately this they couldn’t solve since the beginning. Mr Infantino came to our changing room [after the] first game and he said: ‘It’s just the beginning.’ But [the] group stage finishes tomorrow and we don’t have our logistic people here, they don’t have a visa. How [is that] possible?” Asked whether he felt the US and Fifa wanted Iran out of the tournament, the Olympiakos forward replied: “We have to fight against everything here. I don’t know what people want or know, but as we see it by our perspective, yeah, they’d like that, I think.”
After the match, Iran were denied permission to stay in Seattle and were due to land in Tijuana, Mexico – where they are based after being forced to switch training base before the tournament – at 3am on Saturday. Despite the setbacks, Ghalenoei praised his players: “To my players and the team, I want to say to them I’m proud of them, what these young people, these players have done, it should be written in history …”
Another concern for Iran’s opponents Egypt was the fitness of Mohamed Salah, but injury fears were played down after the draw. Now Iran can only wait – and hope – that the remaining group matches fall in their favour.