Iran striker Mehdi Taremi launches scathing attack of FIFA and 'disastrous' World Cup - 'Who wants to help us?'

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Egypt and Iran produced one of the best games of the 2026 World Cup in the Group G finale, but the thrilling 1-1 final score helped neither team in Seattle as the Iranians saw an injury-time winner ruled out for the tightest of offside calls.

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Belgium’s 5-1 demolition of New Zealand means The Pharaohs slip to second in the group, and will take on Australia in Dallas in the round of 32.

Meanwhile, Iran now face a nervy wait to see if they will reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time, as one of the best third-placed teams.

In arguably the best start to any game this summer, Egypt took the lead through Mahmoud Saber after just four minutes, thanks to an Alireza Beiranvand error.

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The goalkeeper was Iran’s hero against Belgium, but after he punched a cross to the edge of the penalty area, Saber gathered the ball, and fired through Beiranvand’s grasp and into the net.

It looked like that lead would last mere moments when Mohamed Abdelmoneim inadvertently felled Mehdi Taremi in his own penalty area while looking to clear the ball, but Iran’s talisman fired a timid penalty to Mostafa Shoubir’s right, and the Egypt keeper dived the right way to save.

Instead, Iran had to wait until the 13th minute to equalise. Shoubir produced another outstanding save from a long-range Milad Mohammadi shot, and as the ball rolled towards the byline, Ramin Rezaeian hammered it into the net from a seemingly impossible angle.

Egypt failed to ignite the same fire that saw them scorch New Zealand in the second half of their previous game, and Iran finished the opening period stronger, but Omar Marmoush’s introduction from the bench at half-time flipped the script.

The Pharaohs were camped in Iranian territory for much of the second half, even after Mohamed Salah’s premature departure, with the Liverpool legend later spotted with ice wrapped around his left thigh on the bench.

However, it was Iran who were in dreamland in the 93rd minute, when Shoubir failed to clear a free kick lifted into his box from deep, and after the ball pinballed around the box, Shoja Khalilzadeh turned it home to spark wild celebrations.

There was another twist in the tale, though, as VAR showed that half of his foot was offside with Shoubir still ahead of the play, and the goal was ruled out.

The despair for Iran was only amplified after multiple chances went begging, including one which hit the crossbar, as time ran out.

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Ultimately, both sides had to settle for a point, leaving Egypt jubilant to prepare for their first ever World Cup knockout round, despite the disappointment of missing out on top spot in Group G.

Iran now must hope either DR Congo fail to beat Uzbekistan by enough goals, Ghana beat Croatia, or Algeria versus Austria doesn’t end in a draw.

'It's a disaster World Cup'

Iran striker Taremi heavily criticised FIFA, and a "disaster" World Cup, following the 1-1 draw with Egypt.

Team Melli have endured numerous visa issues, which forced them to relocate their World Cup base to Mexico before the tournament began.

And in games against New Zealand and Belgium, both of which took place in Los Angeles, Iran were permitted short-term visas, which meant they had to fly to the US the day before their respective matches and leave the same day after the game had finished.

As such, Taremi was scathing in his criticism of FIFA and the governing body's president, Gianni Infantino, following the stalemate with the Pharaohs.

"It’s a disaster World Cup a disaster," Taremi told reporters in quotes carried by The Athletic. "I mean, FIFA, they have to solve every problem here, but unfortunately they could not solve it since the beginning.

"Mr Infantino came to our changing room after the first game against New Zealand and said, ‘it’s just the beginning’, but the group stage finishes tomorrow.

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"We don’t have our logistic people here - they don’t have a visa.

"How is it possible we always have to travel from Tijuana? We love the people in Tijuana. We love Mexico. They are humble people, and we love them, but as a professional player in a professional competition, it’s not right.

"It’s not fair. Our opinion is, it’s not fair. Is it fair for FIFA? Okay, good to them. But it’s not fair. Who wants to help us? If they want us to be out, then okay, let’s get out. But that’s not fair.

"We don’t have recovery or logistic people to help us. We always complain about these things, but no one helps, no one."

Taremi was then asked if he felt Iran were wanted in the competition, to which he replied: "We have to fight against everything here. I don’t know what people want.

"As we see it from our perspective, yeah, they like that I think… how possible is it if we play 90 minutes, and we have to go back to Tijuana?"

Iran 'treated unfairly'

Iran boss Amir Ghalenoei echoed Taremi's comments, stating that his nation had been treated "unfairly" by co-hosts USA, and called on FIFA to intervene in the future to avoid a repeat situation.

The 62-year-old also said that he was "proud" of his players for their performances in such testing conditions.

"To my players and the team, I want to say to them, 'I'm proud of them'," Ghalenoei said.

"What these young people, these players have done, it should be written in history, because the host country treated us very unfairly.

"Despite all of these problems, we've been able to perform well, and the world is proud of Iranians and our team.

"I urge FIFA, 'don't let hosts treat players and teams the same way in future World Cups'."

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