SEATTLE — Iran has had a difficult World Cup journey, perhaps the most difficult of the tournament. The opponents on the pitch had little to do with this task. Rather, it was not in the situation.
“We have to fight against everything here,” team captain Mehdi Taremi said after Iran’s 1-1 draw with Egypt on Friday ended their hopes of advancing to the finals.
Iran has had to deal with travel issues, including visa denials, and last-minute changes to base camp locations. Now, for the second consecutive game, VAR has ruled a potentially winning goal offside, and things have gotten out of control for Iran again.
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Taremi said FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited Iran’s dressing room during the World Cup opener against New Zealand and told the players that the problems they were experiencing were “just the beginning” of the tournament.
“The group stage ends tomorrow,” Taremi said on Friday, “and we don’t have logistics personnel. They don’t have visas.”
Due to the ongoing war between Iran and World Cup host United States, Iran moved its base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, hundreds of miles from Los Angeles and Seattle, where it played its group stage matches.
The Iranian team and staff were not allowed to enter the country until 24 hours before the first two games in Los Angeles and 48 hours before the final group stage game in Seattle. Some officials and staff were denied visas outright.
“The hosts treated us very unfairly,” Iran coach Amir Galenoei said. “We wanted to arrive two days early and have time to recover. We would have been in better shape physically and mentally, but they robbed us of that justice.”
Iran ended up in 3rd place in Group G with 3 points after 3 draws in group play. Now, Iran will have to wait until Saturday’s final group stage match to find out if they will be one of the top eight teams in the top three to advance to the finals.
“Imagine if we are lucky and get through the group stage, but we never recover,” Taremi said, referring to the team having to return to Tijuana immediately after Friday’s game.
Iran’s goal scorer Ramin Rezeian on Friday had a different reaction to Iran’s experience at the World Cup than Taremi.
“I don’t like complaining, I don’t like that,” said 36-year-old defender Rezaeian. “But my people in Iran are worth more than anything. They should be happier. They should be given everything.”
Carter Brown and Jack Cooney are students at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
