On Friday (June 26), Iran played Egypt in a high-stakes group stage encounter at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Asian side needed a positive result to keep their hopes of knockout stage qualification alive.
The game started off in the worst way imaginable for Team Melli as Mahmoud Saber scored early (5′) to give Egypt the lead. However, they soon fought back through defender Ramin Rezaeian (13′), who scored his second goal of the tournament to restore parity.
Thanks for the submission!
In the dying embers of the game, Iran thought they had won the contest and secured their qualification with an incredible winner (90+3′). Unfortunately for them, the goalscorer, Shoja Khalilzadeh, was deemed to be in an offside position.
Fans were outraged by the decision, taking to X to question the legality of it. One fan claimed:
“FIFA and the US have completely screwed Iran over.”
Another user tagged FIFA’s X account and wrote:
“@FIFAcom you rigged the game. SHAME ON YOU.”
A fan asserted:
“This is NOT an offside! As usual Iran was robbed.”
A clarification about the decision was posted by X user @theoldzealand. He wrote:
“For anyone confused by Iran’s offside goal: The offside rule is you can’t be beyond the SECOND to last player, because the goalkeeper is usually beyond them as well it’s not something you think about. On this play, the goalkeeper has come out, so the attacker is actually behind one outfield player, but not the goalkeeper as well, so it’s offside.”
Iran’s first-ever qualification into the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup will now rely on other results falling in their favour.
“It’s a disaster” – Iran captain Mehdi Taremi claims FIFA want his side to be knocked out of the FIFA World Cup
Iran skipper Mehdi Taremi has claimed that the organizers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup want to see his side get knocked out of the competition.
Amid geopolitical tensions between Iran and the USA, Team Melli were forced to relocate their base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. With all three of their group stage fixtures set to be played in the US, they were asked to travel into the country one day before the game and leave immediately after.
Hitting out at the unjust treatment of his side after a 1-1 draw against Egypt on Friday (June 26), Taremi, formerly of Inter Milan, said (via Daily Mail):
“We always complain about these things since the beginning, it’s a disaster World Cup. A disaster. As professional players in a professional competition, it’s not right… it’s not fair… if it’s fair for FIFA, okay good for them. But it’s not fair. Who wants to help us… no one helps. No one.”
“Who has to solve this problem for us? Who? FIFA? I don’t know. USA. I don’t know – just mention one name for me… FIFA did nothing,” Taremi added.
The last round of group stage fixtures, featuring Groups J, K and L, will decide the fate of Iran’s hopes of qualifying for the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Edited by Aaryan Nagraj
