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Key events
43 mins: Now Ali is in the book for Iran. Textbook Salah spin in behind and his marker could do nothing but grasp for the red shirt before it disappeared into the distance.
41 mins: Ibrahim picks up a yellow card after following through into Ezatolahi after miscontrolling the ball coming out of defence. Hossam Hassam is furious on the touchline, smashing his dugout in frustration.
39 mins: The corner is headed firmly clear, as is the second ball, then the third effort is fired wide by Saber from outside the box.
38 mins: Trezeguet, who has been a constant threat down the left, wins a corner driving into the box.
37 mins: Saber does well in midfield in transition. Trezequet carries gamely on the left wing. Ziko accepts possession on the edge of the box – but he’s too slow and robbed before he can shape to shoot.
35 mins: Egypt have the numbers in defence but they don’t seem especially assured of their positioning. A few Iranian long balls have turned the back three around and allowed Taremi space to drop and accept the first pass or pick up the second ball.
33 mins: However, Iran remain dangerous on the counter. Ghoddos wins the ball in midfield, Taremi executes a canny stepover, but Mohebi can’t complete the Yorke-Cole one-two combination. Iran press strongly though and the ball breaks nicely in the box for Ezatolahi but he can’t keep his left-footed snapshot down.
32 mins: Egypt are starting to dictate terms. They are more comfortable in possession than Iran but just struggling to find space in the final third.
Belgium have taken the lead against New Zealand! As things stand, Egypt will top the group from Belgium with Iran relying on a miracle to qualify in third place.
30 mins: Trezeguet tries to discredit that assessment single-handedly, carrying the ball down the left wing, cutting inside, and curling a decent effort but it’s straight at Beirenvand.
28 mins: Now Iran try some slow buildup play after failing with a couple of hopeful punts forward. The hydration break has taken the sting out of proceedings.
26 mins: Egypt get back on the ball after the break, passing conservatively around their back four, taking no risks with the occasional pass into midfield, where the recipient returns the ball back from whence it came. Eventually the group leaders try a raid down the right but Trezeguet lacks the physicality to turn it into an opening.
24 mins: It remains 0-0 in Vancouver.
23 mins: This match has been too frantic to establish anything resembling a pattern as the two teams take a hydration break. Egypt are the keener to get on the ball and dictate tempo, while Iran are happy to counter directly and at speed. The two goalkeepers have been the decisive actors so far, Beiranvand with a clanger for Iran, Shobeir with a penalty save for Egypt.
22 mins: Much better delivery from Salah this time. Iran need a few bites of the cherry to get it clear, including some unconvincing flapping by Beiranvand.
20 mins: Egypt earn another corner, this time on the left. The training ground routine doesn’t come off but they recycle the ball nicely and earn another corner when Hany’s fierce drive from range is deflected wide.
18 mins: Salah shows skill on the ball to wriggle his way into the box from that inside-right position. He then demonstrates great strength to not go to ground under pressure, but also the departure of that explosive pace to burst free and fashion a shot.
Saber now goes into the referee’s book for leaving his foot in on a 50:50 in midfield.
17 mins: Yellow card to Kanani for sliding in studs up.
16 mins: Egypt make nothing of their first corner of the evening on the right.
15 mins: Abdelmonem cannot continue. He sits disconsolately against an advertising hoarding after being replaced by Ibrahim.
The ball is worked to the top left of the box then inside to Ezatolahi who has time and space to pick his spot. His shot is saved magnificently by Shobeir but the rebound falls to Rezaeian who smashes into the roof of the net brilliantly from the narrowest of angles.
GOAL! Egypt 1-1 Iran (Rezaeian, 14)
This game is going off! Iran are level!
12 mins: Abdelmonem, who conceded the penalty by kicking Taremi’s boot after the Iran striker had just toe-poked the ball away from the attempted clearance, is now down and doesn’t look fully fit. He continues for now.
10 mins: It’s all happening in Seattle.
Penalty Saved!
Taremi sidefooted his spot kick at a nice height to the keeper’s left and Shobeir dives across to make a comfortable save! That’s three penalties in a row saved at this World Cup.
PENALTY IRAN!
Taremi picks Abdelmonem’s pocket as he tries to clear his lines and the Egyptian defender clips the Iran striker, not the ball. Superb decision from the referee.
7 mins: That was a horror show from Beiranvand who has excelled at this World Cup and throughout his long and decorated international career.
Lovely interplay in the final third between Ziko and Salah. The veteran attempts a trademark left-footed curler from just inside the box that’s saved, but the ball bounces out to Saber who shoots tamely but somehow it trickles through a forest of legs and the grasp of the hapless goalkeeper, and dribbles over the line! Nightmare defending from Iran.
GOAL! Egypt 1-0 Iran (Saber, 5)
Early goal for Egypt!
4 mins: Egypt are happy to slow things down and invite Iran to come onto them. Salah is operating in an inside-right channel rather than on the wing. He made that switch in the second half against New Zealand after an unproductive game and half in the tournament to that point.
2 mins: The onus will be on Iran under the Friday night lights and they start purposefully but twice fail to win free-kicks in Egypt’s half with ball carriers going down too easily under pressure. Taremi will be vital for Team Melli, he is a powerful focal point up front and a terrific finisher.
Kick-off!
The final round of a wide open Group G is under way…
Seattle has generated some of the best atmospheres of the World Cup so far and Lumen Field looks a picture once again as the two sides stand for their national anthems. There’s no shortage of Egyptian red and Iranian white shirts in the stands.
The two sides are in the tunnel ready to take the field. Egypt are wearing red shirts, black shorts and socks. Iran are top to toe in white.
Need any last minute information on either team? Find it here.
Today’s officials are from Poland, led by referee Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France, and the 2023 Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan.
He is a celebrity in Poland, appearing as a contestant on the Polish version of Hell’s Kitchen, and featuring in the documentary series Sędziowie, a behind the scenes look at the life of a referee.
Conditions in the Pacific Northwest are cool, overcast, and blustery. Great for football, and exactly the kind of midsummer conditions that led to the birth of the defining alternative music scene of the early 90s.
This evening’s fixture is in Seattle, a hotbed of football in North America.
The Major League Soccer team, the Sounders, have won the MLS Cup twice in the past decade, and their matches often top the charts for the most well-attended in the competition.
The NWSL side, the Reign, have won three Shields, and in 2023 set a new attendance record for a standalone fixture in the competition when they farwelled the retiring Megan Rapinoe.
During the World Cup, Seattle’s major sporting arena will seat around 69,000 spectators and will be called Seattle Stadium, but for the rest of the year it is known as Lumen Field.
Construction was completed in 2002, a process overseen by the city’s NFL franchise, the Seahawks.
Seahawks fans have twice claimed the Guinness World Record for the loudest crowd roar at an outdoor stadium, first at 136.6 decibels in 2013, followed by 137.6 decibels in 2014.
A contributing factor is how compact the venue is relative to its capacity. The upper levels are cantilevered over the lower sections and the lower sections are closer to the field than typical North American arenas. A roof covers the majority of spectators but leaves the playing surface open to the elements.
The stadium is a distinctive U-shape with an open north end that provides spectacular views of downtown Seattle while the partially open south end exposes Mount Rainier.
Who are through to the last 32?
Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Morocco, USA, Australia, Paraguay, Germany, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Egypt, Spain, Cape Verde, France, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Portugal, England and Ghana.
Who have been eliminated?
Czechia, Qatar, Haiti, Turkey, Curaçao, Tunisia, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Panama.
Iran’s preparations for this tournament have been hampered at every turn, but they received some minor respite ahead of today’s crucial fixture.
“I don’t think that Ronaldo’s form against Uzbekistan was all that remarkable,” replies Michael Byers to my early callout for opinions. “In fact the opportunities he missed before he scored, and to complete his hat trick, demonstrated just how much he has lost. Both were crosses that he could not move his feet fast enough to finish.”
I agree with all of that, and he would not be in my Portugal XI – but he is going to be whether we like it or not. I’ve long been persuaded by the Alex Ferguson way of thinking that strikers missing opportunities is nothing to worry about, the concern comes when they’re not getting into the positions to score.
Today’s fixture has been overshadowed somewhat by the discomfort of both participating nations in what local organisers had long planned as a Pride Match in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community in Seattle.
Egypt’s football association appealed to Fifa, saying it “categorically rejects any activities promoting LGBTQ during the match,” warning the events could “provoke cultural and religious sensitivities among fans”. Iran’s football federation was quoted suggesting the Pride designation was an “irrational move that supports a certain group”.
In Iran, LGBTQ+ relationships are illegal, and Egypt has a history of prosecuting queer and trans people.
Iran XI
Two changes for Team Melli from the side that held Belgium to a goalless draw.
In: Mohammadi, Ghorbani
Out: Hardani, Hajisafi
Iran (5-4-1): 1 Beiranvand; 5 Mohammadi, 13 Kanani, 4 Khalilzadeh, 19 Nemati 23 Rezaeian; 14 Ghoddos, 21 Ghorbani, 6 Ezatolahi, 8 Mohebi; 9 Taremi (c).
Egypt XI
Four changes for the Pharaohs, including a new central defensive pairing and Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush missing out through injury.
In: 6 Abdelmonem, 5 Rabia, 21 Saber, 7 Trezeguet
Out: 14 Fathy, 2 Ibrahim, 19 Attia, 22 Marmoush
Egypt (4-2-3-1): 23 Shobeir (gk); 3 Hany, 6 Abdelmonem, 5 Rabia, 13 Fatouh; 17 Lasheen, 21 Saber; 8 Ashour, 11 Ziko, 10 Salah (c); 7 Trezeguet.
So that means Cape Verde are through to face Argentina in the round of 32, in what is shaping as a kind bracket for the defending champions.
Tiny Cape Verde are into the round of 32!
Uruguay are out of the World Cup!
Meanwhile, Norway B were no match for a France team boasting a quite preposterous array of attacking talent.
Earlier today Senegal demolished Iraq to give themselves a strong chance of progressing as one of the best third-placed teams.
This is the best example so far of how the “group of death” concept has been significantly undermined by the expanded format.
There’s still plenty of time to catch up with Max and the gang.
Feel free to keep me company by emailing your thoughts about today’s match, and anything related to the World Cup to [email protected].
Some possible topics:
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Adidas kits are way better than those of all other manufactures.
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Before the group stage I only fancied one of France, Spain, or Argentina to win the World Cup. I would now be comfortable adding Portugal to that list if Ronaldo wasn’t a guaranteed starter / or maintains the form he showed against Uzbekistan.
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This World Cup feels like a reckoning for South American football. Bolivia lost to Iraq in the pre-tournament playoff, Uruguay and Paraguay have been bad, Ecuador got lucky, Colombia are dull, and Brazil are reliant on an Italian conjurer. Argentina are the outlier and it is no surprise to see how much they dominated CONMEBOL qualification.
If my explanation of the permutations facing the Group G protagonists was insufficient, here’s a more fulsome description with tables.
This is going to be a multiscreen/multitab experience. I recommend opening up another window and inviting Sam Lewis to keep you informed on all things New Zealand v Belgium.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Egypt v Iran as Group G reaches its conclusion in Seattle. Kick-off at Lumen Field is 8pm local time (11pm EDT / 4am BST / 1pm AEST).
Welcome to what promises to be the most gloriously chaotic group stage denouement of this World Cup. Practically every combination of outcomes is possible as Egypt, Iran, Belgium and New Zealand battle to make it to the round of 32.
Egypt, on top of the group with four points, are the only team guaranteed to qualify, it just depends whether that’s in first, second, or third place.
Iran, second on two points, will qualify with a win, but may still sneak through with a draw if there is no winner in the Belgium v New Zealand clash.
New Zealand must win to progress. Belgium need a win to guarantee safe passage but may get away with a draw if other results fall their way.
With both matches kicking off simultaneously expect plenty of fluctuations in tempo and atmosphere as the four teams compute in real-time what they must do to stay alive.
Got it? Good. That’s NumberWang!
I’ll be back with a news roundup and team news shortly but in the meantime you can follow the closing stages of Group H where Cape Verde are destined for the round of 32 and Uruguay are on their way home.
#Egypt #Iran #World #Cup #live #World #Cup
