LOS ANGELES.- Iran is one of the teams of the moment in the 2026 World Cup. And not because of the purely football issue. The conflict between the United States and the Iranian nation threatened almost until the last minute with the exclusion of this team from the World Cup and ended with a diplomatic exile in Tijuana, Mexico, from where they must move to United States territory to play their matches with a 24-hour window to return to their home country. bunker Mexican.
But on the field of play, things are different. Iran has filled its venues despite the obligatory football pilgrimage. The team from the former Persian region seeks to qualify for the first round for the first time after seven attempts since its appearance on the world football level in Argentina 1978.
So far Iran has won the pools and the merely viral topics. First they drew 2-2 with New Zealand and the phenomenon of Tim Payne; This Sunday he put one of the tournament’s favorites, Belgium and its phenomenon Kevin De Bruyne, against the wall to spice up the tournament and leave everything open for the third group date where ‘a great’ could be sacrificed.
The city of Los Angeles has been their home and the Iranians still don’t know what it’s like to lose in the World Cup. This Sunday they stood up to the favorite Belgian team, who despite their great figures could not surpass Alireza Beiranvad’s goal.
In fact, Iran was able to surpass the limits of the feat and beat the remnants of the Belgian golden generation, but half a length ahead of Mehdi Taremi prevented the central referee, the Argentine Darío Herrera, from considering his shot valid inside the area – after a laboratory play on a free kick – which overcame Courtuois’s resistance. That 1-0 meant early glory but the VAR was an obstacle.
In such a complex and short tournament, no one protested the lack of goals. What’s more, they thanked the owners of the goal. The actions were summarized in the interventions of the goalkeepers, mainly Courtois who was the main protagonist by directly influencing the result.
However, the aura is so present in the Iranian cause that Courtois’s great interventions did not prevent Beiranvad from being chosen as the FIFA Man of the Match.
That is why Iran plays its own World Cup. It is clear that it is not seeking to win, but each game has the smell of survival and rebellion, to force one of the many stories that always accompany football.
Ironically, there are 24 hours in a day, and Iran has the same amount of time each World Cup matchday to try to write its own dream. The ticket to the next round would serve to survive the group stage for the first time, but mainly, to extend their visa for one more day in the United States.
