Iran's journey in the World Cup – from FIFA president Infantino's lies to two painful blows on the football field

After the first match against New Zealand, FIFA President Gianni Infantino proudly entered the Iranian locker room, attempting to calm the situation. The Italian assured that things would change. They changed only minimally since before the last group match with Egypt, Iran was given a chance to arrive in the U.S. for two days of preparation.

The captain of the Iranian national team, Mehdi Taremi, who almost missed the tournament due to military obligations, did not hold back, stating bluntly: "FIFA should be able to solve every problem here, but unfortunately, they are incapable of doing so...”

There was a moment at the beginning of the tournament when Gianni Infantino (FIFA president) came to our locker room after the match with New Zealand and tried to calm the situation, saying that these were just the problems of the very beginning... but now the group stage has ended, and we still don’t have our logistics representatives by our side. How is it possible that every time we have to fly to the U.S. from Tijuana?”

This team was left alone. Nobody talked about the strict decisions from the U.S. and FIFA, said the Iranian national team coach Amir Ghalenoei.

"We face a lot of challenges in this tournament, especially off the football field. I asked the other 47 coaches to raise this question, but nobody responded to me.

I did not see support on our side. I did not see a reaction from any country. However, at least the coach of Belgium, Rudi Garcia, acted nobly, saying that we gathered here for football, not politics,” Ghalenoei told the "Telegraph.”

Problems off the field remain problems, but on the field, everything transpired in a way that we had to endure more than one blow.

In the last group match against Egypt, Shoja Khalilzadeh sent the ball to the net during added time, which seemed to secure victory and a ticket to the knockout stage. However, after a few minutes with VAR checking, the goal was disallowed. Well, 3 points and a neutral goal difference should have allowed entry into the next stage. Yet, the situation in other groups did not unfold as planned.

The next blow came in the Algeria versus Austria match. Here, in the third minute of stoppage time, the goal scored by Riyad Mahrez virtually sent Iran into the knockout stage, but three minutes later, with Saša Kalajdžić unmarked, the score was equalized, and thus for the second time in 2 days, the hearts of Iranian fans and players shattered. They became the only team that did not lose yet still did not advance to the next stage.

A painful champion on and off the field.

However, it should be noted that, likely, off the field everything could have been entirely different, but the fabricated FIFA Peace Prize laureate Donald Trump does his part in the world, which then casts a shadow on the most prestigious sports tournament in the world.