Iran’s national team were lauded for their beautiful fair play and sportsmanship in the Seattle dressing room following their dramatic 1-1 draw with Egypt at the 2026 FIFA World Cup that confirmed the African side’s progress to the knock-out stages.
It would be the first time that Egypt had ever reached that far in the tournament, while Iran would exit in heartbreaking circumstances, seeing their stoppage-time winner to take them through, cancelled due to an offside decision by VAR.
Iran sent out a photo via Tasnim News Agency of their fair play note, in which they had handwritten a thank you message, thanking Seattle for hosting them, mentioning their values, of respect, honour and fair play “We come from Iran… A country which for 4,000 years honours rather than victory,” Iran said in their message, “Fair play isn’t just a sentence in the football rulebook but a soul of the game.”
It had already happened against Belgium in their last group game, where Iran left a respectfully worded note in their Los Angeles hotel.
On the pitch, Mahmoud Sabre scored first with Mohamed Salah having a drive saved by Alireza Beiranvand, before Mehdi Taremi cancelled his penalty miss after Ramin Rezaeian tucked home from close range to claim the player of the match award.
Egypt’s goalkeeper, Mostafa Shobeir, was a busy presence in between the posts and had a wonderful game, making crucial stops to deny Milad Mohammadi and Saeid Ezatolahi before the last-gasp goal was chalked off.
Iran departed the World Cup stage head high with their values on show both on and off the pitch.
