"After review," began the Polish referee, Szymon Marciniak, those two words breaking Iran hearts after they thought they scrambled an unlikely 93rd-minute winner to progress to the last 32. Moments earlier, the 37-year-old Shoja Khalilzadeh fired in from the edge of the six-yard box, whipped off his No 4 shirt in double-quick time and slid on to his knees before finding himself nestled at the bottom of a pile-on after being mobbed by his teammates. Amid the delirium, one member of Iran's backroom team collapsed on to his back, clenching both fists in jubilation. Another planted a kiss on Khalilzadeh's forehead before, high on adrenaline, the defender donned a pair of sunglasses given to him by one of the many substitutes who emptied on to the pitch.
But the joy was short-lived, Marciniak playing party-pooper after a video assistant referee review showed Khalilzadeh to be offside after Mostafa Shobeir rushed from his goal to punch clear the free-kick from which Iran thought they had snatched victory. And the late drama did not stop there. Seventeen seconds after the minimum of six minutes of second-half stoppage time, Yasser Ibrahim made a staggering block to repel Ramin Rezaeian 's shot after the ball squirted free a few yards from goal and then six minutes and 53 seconds into added time Iran's Saeid Ezatolahi sent a header against the crossbar.
Related: Egypt 1-1 Iran: World Cup 2026 – as it happened
Amid the frenetic finish, it was easy to forget Mehdi Taremi 's 89th-minute header also cannoned against the woodwork. When Marciniak called time on a game that began brightly but fizzled out until the late chain of Iran chances, the game was more than 100 minutes old. Belgium's 5-1 trouncing of New Zealand combined with this draw meant, as runners-up in Group G, Egypt will face Australia in the last 32 , while three straight draws for Iran means an agonising wait to find out whether they will join them in the knockout stage. Iran's fate hinges on how Croatia , Algeria the and Democratic Republic of the Congo fare in the next 24 hours, but all would have been so different had one of those late moments gone in their favour. No wonder Amir Ghalenoei slumped in his dugout at the final whistle.
For unbeaten Egypt , who advanced to the knockout stage for the first time, the only potential dampener centred on undoubtedly their biggest name: Mohamed Salah . Hossam Hassan, Egypt's head coach whose twin brother, Ibrahim, is the team director, said the former Liverpool winger requested to be withdrawn approaching the hour and had an ice pack on his left leg after being replaced. "If a player asks to be substituted, it means he felt something," Hassan said, though he played down fears injury could prevent Salah from featuring in Dallas on Friday. "I talked to Salah and he said he's going to be OK and it's not a big injury. We still have time to talk to the medical staff, I think he will be back and when I spoke to Salah he assured me he's going to be OK."
For so long, the meat of this game was crammed into nine of the opening 14 minutes: Egypt taking the lead, Iran thwarted from the penalty spot and then equalising a few moments later. Mahmoud Saber struck before Shobeir kept out Taremi's poor penalty after Mohamed Abdelmonem 's clumsy foul on him amid seemingly little danger. Iran levelled when Rezaeian wellied the rebound of Milad Mohammadi 's shot into the roof of the net from an acute angle after Shobeir's smart save low down to his left sent the ball skidding loose. But anyone here in a stunned stadium or those watching at home will remember this game for the late chaos. "When the [Khalilzadeh] goal was ruled offside, I was very happy," Hassan said. "Thank God it didn't count."
Shobeir had his back to the ball when it dropped at the feet of Mohammad Ghorbani but the goalkeeper performed a swift 180, shuttling from right to left to keep out Ghorbani's strike with his midriff, before the ball fell for Khalilzadeh. Shobeir spread himself again but this time was beaten, only for the VAR to come to Egypt's rescue. As Iran celebrated, a pitch invader seemingly determined to join the throbbing huddle of players and staff was eventually pinned to the ground by security and escorted off the field. At the final whistle, however, Khalilzadeh laid flat on his back, hands on head and breathing heavily as teammates and staff tried to pick him off the canvas.
"I thought we were the most oppressed team but after these three games we notice we have bad luck as well," said Ghalenoei, who confirmed his players are yet to leave their bubbles in the host cities. "We haven't come here for entertainment and to leave the hotel. Even in Tijuana, we haven't even seen one street. We've just gone from the airport to the hotel. We'll just wait until tomorrow. If, God willing, we advance, I'll give them a day to have proper recovery and maybe go to the beach to relax a bit."
