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Iran’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad World Cup got a lot better Sunday.
And it could wind up being the country’s best. Because after playing Belgium to a scoreless draw before another packed house at SoFi Stadium, Iran is in position to win its group and advance to the knockout rounds for the first time in seven World Cups.
To do that, it must beat Egypt on Friday in Seattle.
“We know how important that is, making history,” midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh said. “It’s really in our control to do what we have to do. Firstly for our people back home and then for ourselves.”
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Iran also could advance with a draw, though that path is much more complicated. Either way, a spot in the round of 32 would be a just reward for a team that is unbeaten two games into what has been an extremely trying tournament off the field.
Before it even left Iran, the team was forced to move its training camp from Tucson to Tijuana, and more than a dozen members of its delegation were told they would be barred from entering the U.S. The players had their movements in the U.S. severely limited, heard their national anthem jeered twice and generally have been unwelcome as the first qualifiers to play a World Cup game in a country with which they are at war.
After Sunday’s draw, coach Amir Ghalenoei said the team had to rush to the airport since it was ordered to be back in Mexico before the streetlights came on.
“Certainly, these flights affect our team,” he said.
Yet it’s a win away from winning its group.
“We showed a great team spirit. I think we showed how united we are,” Jahanbakhsh said.
“We have said enough with the situation we are in.”
Well, not really. Because Jahanbakhsh said the situation Iran’s in is a big reason why its World Cup run is in the situation it’s in. The challenges, he said, have bonded the players and fueled their desire to show up those who have tried to punish it.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “This is the spirit that we have in the team.
“We don’t ask for much. We just ask for the same procedure for all the other 47 teams. Just the fairness. I think that united us even more, and that’s one of the things that I think we’ve shown. We’ve shown a great team character, and part of it comes from the situation we are in, obviously.”
This isn’t the first time Iran has been close to reaching the knockout round, but the last two times it tripped over the final step. Four years ago in Qatar, it entered the final day of group play needing a win to go though, only to lose to the U.S., and in 2018, it was eliminated by a draw with Portugal.
Sunday’s game was one Iran easily could have won, had a brilliant, first-half goal not been erased by a video replay that confirmed the narrowest of offside violations.
The goal, one of the best any team has scored in this World Cup, came on a set piece in the 25th minute. Iranian captain Ehsan Hajsafi took the free kick from about 35 yards but instead of going to goal, he pushed the ball through the Belgium wall to Mehdi Taremi, who took a clean first touch, then put a left-footed shot between Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois and the left post.
The celebration was short-lived, however, with Argentine referee Darío Herrera taking the goal off the board when a lengthy video review determined Taremi to be offside.
Iran had another scoring opportunity denied early in the second half when Belgium’s Nathan Ngoy mishit a weak back pass, launching Taremi on a breakaway with only Courtois to beat. So Ngoy reached out and grabbed the Iranian by the shirt, pulling him to the ground and earning a red card for his trouble, leaving Belgium to play the final half-hour down a man.
Statistically the game was a mismatch, not a draw, with Belgium outshooting Iran 23-7, completing nearly three times as many passes and controlling the ball for more than 60 of the 90 minutes. But it couldn’t get the ball past Iranian keeper Alireza Beiranvand, who made seven saves behind a smothering defense that frequently packed seven men in the penalty area, blocking six shots.
If this World Cup has been trying for Iran, it’s been frustrating for Belgium, which hasn’t scored a goal of its own. That puts it in position to make some history: If it fails to beat New Zealand in its third game Friday, it could go out in the group stage in consecutive World Cups for the first time, staining the legacy of an aging golden generation led by Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Axel Witsel.
For Iran, on the other hand, this has been a tournament in which it has shone brilliantly despite the obstacles put in its path.
“This is truly a very great achievement,” Ghalenoei said. “In the history of football, it will mean future generations will remember these kids … for what a great job they did.”
Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this story.
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Kevin Baxter writes about soccer and hockey for the Los Angeles Times. He has covered eight World Cups, six Olympic Games, seven World Series and a Super Bowl and has contributed to three Pulitzer Prize-winning series at The Times and Miami Herald. An essay he wrote in fifth grade was voted best in the class. He has a cool dog.
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