Iran eliminated from World Cup amid war and internal divisions

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s national football team, Team Melli, saw its dream of reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time slip away, as the 2026 tournament played out against a backdrop of war and stirred mixed emotions among Iranians at home and abroad.

In their seventh World Cup appearance, Iran finished third in Group G with three points from three draws, following a 1-1 tie against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The team was officially eliminated the next day when other results did not favor them, despite FIFA having expanded the field from 32 to 48 teams. Iran missed out on one of the eight best third-place spots needed to advance by a single berth.

“This is so improbable, I can’t believe we’re out, just one spot short,” Milad, a Tehran resident, told Al Jazeera.

The circumstances were so bizarre that the head coach speculated about divine intervention, while Iran’s state television accused other teams of cheating and collusion.

In the match against Egypt, defender Shoja Khalilzadeh thought he had scored a 93rd-minute winner to send Iran into the round of 32, but VAR ruled him offside by a few centimeters. A coaching staff member broke his nose when a colleague accidentally headbutted him while celebrating the goal before it was disallowed. Egypt, which advanced, later mocked Khalilzadeh with an Instagram post showing striker Mohamed Salah smiling in sunglasses.

Head coach Amir Ghalenoei told state television he believed everyone enjoyed the match, but sometimes “God was against us” due to a lack of luck, including Iran having three goals disallowed by VAR – the most in the tournament. He also blamed the harsh conditions faced by players and staff during an unprecedented World Cup campaign, as the host nation, the United States, had been at war with Iran for four months.

U.S. forces bombed several islands in the Strait of Hormuz just hours before the Iran-Egypt match. Football federation officials, staff, and reporters were denied U.S. visas on allegations of ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The team was only allowed into the United States under strict restrictions, basing themselves mainly in Tijuana, Mexico, instead of planned Tucson, Arizona, and entering the U.S. only 24 hours before each match.

After the Egypt draw, Iran needed one of three results: Croatia to lose to Ghana (but Croatia won 2-1); the Democratic Republic of Congo not to beat Uzbekistan (but DR Congo won 3-1); or Algeria to defeat Austria (the match ended 3-3). Hours before the Algeria-Austria game, prominent sports commentator Javad Khiabani sent a video in Arabic urging “Muslim brothers in Algeria” to beat Austria. When Algeria led 3-2 with a stoppage-time goal, Iranian TV commentators erupted in cheers, only to be devastated when Austria equalized 3-3 on the first touch of striker Sasa Kalajdzic.

Austria coach Ralf Rangnick responded to match-fixing allegations: “If Alfred Hitchcock had written such a script, I’m afraid he would have been completely crazy.”

This marked the second consecutive World Cup where Team Melli did not receive unified support from Iranians, a consequence of anti-government protests. In January 2026, thousands of Iranians, including at least 230 children, died in nationwide demonstrations. The government blamed “terrorism” orchestrated by the U.S. and Israel, but Amnesty International called it “an unprecedented deadly crackdown” accompanied by a complete internet shutdown.

Some Iranians believe the players – who avoided commenting on the protests and even voiced support for the state – no longer represent a united Iran. Outside U.S. stadiums, some protesters waved the pre-1979 revolution lion-and-sun flag instead of the official flag with “Allah” in the center. However, most diaspora Iranians cheered loudly for the team in packed stadiums.

Former Team Melli captain Mohammad Khakpour, now living in the U.S., wrote on Instagram: “When a part of society feels Team Melli no longer represents their emotions, pain, or hope, a gap has been created. People may not be happy about losing at football, but sometimes they are happy about the collapse of an image they consider false.”

Farhad, 36, in eastern Tehran, said: “Personally, I wanted them to advance, but I’m not too disappointed that they didn’t.”