{"id":556861,"date":"2026-06-27T11:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/556861\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:27:23","slug":"irans-footballing-fantasy-holds-for-now-as-us-bomb-strikes-and-reality-hit-home-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/556861\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s footballing fantasy holds for now as US bomb strikes and reality hit home \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Cup Group G: Egypt 1 (Saber 5) Iran 1 (Rezaeian 14)<\/p>\n

If this is the last time that the Iranian<\/a> football team sets foot on US<\/a> soil for the indefinite future, they left an indelible impression here in the Emerald City. An ordinary bruiser of an encounter was bracketed by five minutes of wonderful madness and it almost produced a goal that would be both a winner and a diplomatic incident. <\/p>\n

Iran had a deathless sporting moment in its grasp here after Shojeh Khalilzadeh belted home a 93rd-minute goal following a series of hapless failures by Egypt<\/a> to clean up an incoming free-kick. <\/p>\n

Throughout the second half, Iran had been hanging in there, grimly, but now delirium reigned in the Lumen stadium. Khalilzadeh ripped off his shirt, was engulfed by team-mates, stuck on a pair of meme sunglasses and happily took a booking before it dawned on him that upstairs a VAR check had begun. A horrible wait and then confirmation of an offside ruling that will be subject to bitter debate. <\/p>\n

Iran hit the crossbar again with another desperate attack but with the final whistle, Egypt were through to the second round while Iran must wait to see if they qualify as one of the eight best third-placed teams. <\/p>\n

On the balance of football played, it was a fair outcome. But within the panorama of Iran\u2019s extraordinary presence at this tournament, those few moments when Khalilzadeh had propelled his country into the fantasy of a second-place finish, the echoes must have reverberated from Washington State across to DC. <\/p>\n

Could Donald Trump<\/a> \u2013 and his cabinet \u2013 have joined the global legion of Mohammad Salah fans at some stage on Friday night? The US president was hosting a Republican National Committee bash at the White House on the evening but with this crucial qualifying game kicking off at 11pm EST, there\u2019s every chance that the most notorious night-owl on Pennsylvania Avenue was tuning in and cheering for the Pharaohs. <\/p>\n

With the tenuous peace deal strained by retaliatory bomb strikes in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, the Iran football team returned to the United States and the sight of the regime\u2019s flag stretched across a patch of prime American real estate would not have brought respite to what has been a trying week for Trump and the administration.<\/p>\n

Iran arrived in Seattle two days before this match following a loosening of the restrictions imposed by Homeland Security but were still expected to hightail it down the Pacific Coast and back into Tijuana in the wee hours of Friday morning. <\/p>\n

Outside Lumen Stadium, safe to say that it wasn\u2019t the usual Friday night fare on Occidental Avenue. This stadium remains a marvel and the atmosphere on the tree-lined boulevard leading down from Pioneer Square on what was a designated Pride game, despite official objections from both countries, was boisterous and good humoured. Seattleites out for their usual Friday night drinks seemed intent on wishing pretty much every single fan the best of luck. <\/p>\n

\"IranIran supporters cheer before the World Cup group game between Egypt and Iran in Seattle. Photograph: EPA <\/p>\n

Closer to the stadium a series of anti-Iranian regime protests took place and there was a running battle of the flags taking place between those carrying the pre-1979 revolution symbol and supporters carrying the official flag of the Islamic Republic. It made for an odd and unique moment here in this laissez-faire holdout in the far northwest, with some Iranian fans in party mode while others held signs aloft to remind the world of the estimated 40,000 killed during the protests at the start of the year.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s manager, Hossam Hassan, voiced his support for the Iranian team\u2019s predicament at the eve-of match conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cRespect and fair play mean everyone should respect everyone, and for there to be fairness between everyone. That\u2019s why I wish luck to all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iranian team is one of the teams I respect very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Measured, no doubt, but more than Fifa head Gianni Infantino has been willing to venture as the Iranian players continue to endure conditions and restrictions that are, in the context of this football tournament, unfair. Sitting comfortably at the top of the group, Hassan made four changes to his team, dropping Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush and tinkering with a new central defensive pairing. It was inviting for the Iranians needing to build on their 0-0 draw with underwhelming Belgium.<\/p>\n

None of the furnace-like conditions gripping western Europe here: it was 17 degrees and dry by kick-off and the usual contradiction inside the stadium: the Islamic Republic\u2019s anthem booed; the team itself fervently cheered. And they trailed after just five minutes. Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand did well to get fingertips to Mohammad Salah\u2019s initial shot but then allowed Mahmoud Saber\u2019s undercooked follow-up to slip past him; a monumental mistake after his heroics against the Belgians. <\/p>\n

Iran responded with a moment of artful pickpocketing by Mehedi Taremi who was fouled by Abdelmonem; in front of a near-silent house, Taremi, Iran\u2019s second all-time scorer, had his spot kick saved by Shobeir. No matter: within six minutes, Iran had levelled matters when Rezaeian was there to fire home a deflected save by Shobeir. <\/p>\n

Suddenly, the tie was in the realm of minor classic and the match was just 15 minutes old. By then, Egypt had enough of the centre-half adventurism and had sent Yasser Ibrahim in after just six minutes to restore order.<\/p>\n

\"ShojaeShojae Khalilzadeh (facing) and Ramin Rezaeian of Iran celebrate at the end of their match against Egypt, which ended 1-1. Photograph: EPA <\/p>\n

In fact, it was the hydration break, ever the mood-killer, which enforced a more prosaic second quarter. With Belgium 2-0 up and cruising against New Zealand in Vancouver, the early abandonment gradually seeped out of the stadium. Two exceptional Iranian tackles \u2013 Ghoddos on Ziko late in the first half and Saleh Hardani ghosting in to thieve the ball as Trezeguet prepared to strike after 52 minutes \u2013 were crucial sequences of resistance. Mo Saleh was gone after 56 minutes but still, it was his team who continued to build and threaten while the Iranians isolated Taremi up front and hoped to catch a lucky breakaway goal. <\/p>\n

The stalemate held, with Hassan, Egypt\u2019s manager incandescent on the sideline as Belgium wrestled the top position from their grasp. <\/p>\n

And the night had one of those weird undercurrents where the crowd could sense a deviant streak concealed within the pattern of the play. In the 89th minute, Iran won a corner from a rare attack and Taremi came close to causing a sensation, his glancing header deceiving everything but the crossbar. <\/p>\n

That near-miss caused a return of unreasonable fire and bedlam to the field, queuing up that outrageous conclusion and the post-whistle agony, ecstasy and long wait for Iran. Their manager Amir Ghalenoei, retired to his dugout and sat impassively for the longest time. As has been the pattern of this tournament, their future is tenuous and uncertain.<\/p>\n

But as Donald Trump grudgingly appreciates now, Iran don\u2019t go away easily. <\/p>\n

Egypt (4-2-3-1)<\/b> \u200b23 Shobeir (gk); 3 Hany, \u200b6 Abdelmonem (Ibrahim 6), 5 Rabia, 13 \u200bFatouh; 17 Lasheen, 21 Saber (Attia); 8 Ashour (Marmoush 45), 11 Ziko (Abdelkarim 78), 10 Salah (c) (Zizo 56); 7 Trezeguet.<\/p>\n

Iran (5-4-1): <\/b>1 Beiranvand; 5 Mohammadi, 13 Kanani (Hardani 45), 4 Khalilzadeh, 19 Nemati 23 Rezaeian; 14 Ghoddos (Moghanloo 67), 21 Ghorbani, 6 Ezatolahi, 8 Mohebi Jahanbakhsh); 9 Taremi (c).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World Cup Group G: Egypt 1 (Saber 5) Iran 1 (Rezaeian 14) If this is the last time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[372,18,34476,19,18929,135856,17,71326,132,35350],"class_list":["post-556861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-egypt","tag-eire","tag-fifa","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-iran-protests","tag-ireland","tag-pride","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116821836259691946","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}