Are we "cursed", or is it .... ???

[Prowess]

In 2018 we where definitly good enough imo, we just had the hardest group with Spain, Portugal and Morocco, if Taremi had not choked on that last rebound in the dying minutes that CQ Iran team would have top that group.

2018 was my favorite team. We were definitely good, but I meant we just weren’t good enough to get out of that group of death.

This year, we were good enough to get out of the group, we just got royally screwed.

[koorosh]

2018 was my favorite team. We were definitely good, but I meant we just weren’t good enough to get out of that group of death.

This year, we were good enough to get out of the group, we just got royally screwed.

Nobody screwed us.

We screwed ourselves.

Stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility.

[FeLFeL]

I can honestly say we got shafted this time around with the Algeria-Austria match fixing and the bs VAR call on our game winning goal.

In 2006, 2018, and 2022, we just weren’t good enough. This time, we really were—we played better with each game. This is why this exit stings more to me than any previous edition.

Would you have called it match fixing if it was Iran vs. Austria, and we had to make sure to tie by any means since a win meant we'd play Spain in the next round, and a tie meant we'd play Switzerland?

The VAR call was good too. Karma is undefeated. God knew what he was doing when he made Khalilzade and his crooked feet; anyone else with a normal stride except his signature V shaped stance would've been onside.

He can dedicate his offside goal to his late Rahbar now.

[Prowess]

Would you have called it match fixing if it was Iran vs. Austria, and we had to make sure to tie by any means since a win meant we'd play Spain in the next round, and a tie meant we'd play Switzerland?

The VAR call was good too. Karma is undefeated. God knew what he was doing when he made Khalilzade and his crooked feet; anyone else with a normal stride except his signature V shaped stance would've been onside.

He can dedicate his offside goal to his late Rahbar now.

There’s a difference between playing for a draw, than letting the other team score within 1 minute after you score the potential game winner so you get a draw. So yes, it was 100% match fixing.

If I’m not mistaken, during the last Asian Cup Iran could’ve lost their last game in the 1st round to avoid facing Japan in the quarterfinals, but they played to win.

The VAR call was suspect, as many others have been in this tournament. Just having the ref freeze the frame incorrectly a few milliseconds later makes Shoja offsides. Not to mention, the 3D projection of the body parts that may alter the actual parts.

Good riddance to both Austria & Algeria, especially Algeria losing to Switzerland 2-0. Did they think that was “better” for them than losing to Spain 3-0 for example? So yes, karma for the win.

[Prowess]

Nobody screwed us.

We screwed ourselves.

Stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility.

We did not enter this tournament on equal footing as other teams. Just one example: the team arrived to Tijuana from Turkey only 8 days before their first match against NZ.

This is a 10 hr time difference. Far from ideal conditions, hence why reports from the camp expressed concerns about the players’ sluggishness even before the opener.

This is also why with each game our performance improved. Plus the Egypt VAR call and the Algeria-Austria match fixing, yes, we definitely got screwed this world cup.

[koorosh]

We did not enter this tournament on equal footing as other teams. Just one example: the team arrived to Tijuana from Turkey only 8 days before their first match against NZ.

This is a 10 hr time difference. Far from ideal conditions, hence why reports from the camp expressed concerns about the players’ sluggishness even before the opener.

This is also why with each game our performance improved. Plus the Egypt VAR call and the Algeria-Austria match fixing, yes, we definitely got screwed this world cup.

Let's dispense with that little time zone MYTH so is is not repeated again.

It typically takes 0.5 to 1day of recovery for each time zone hour When traveling westward. So most if not all of the team had fully recovered.

Now it takes 1-1.5 days of recovery for each time zone when traveling East...which NZ team did on May 27, crossing 16 time zones TO Florida. Do the math....NZ team would have the same amount of jetlag...or lack of jetlag as TM.

Now...
Iran's visa was approved on June 5 while they were in Turkey...11 days before the game. Why did we not leave earlier?
Why was Iran in Turkey and not in another country closer to the USA...like Mexico? Who decided that? IFF
Who decided to leave out some of our best players? IFF and IR
Who fielded the oldest team in WC history? GN
Who burdened the training staff with IRGC people? IR.
Who could not get results against a weak NZ side ? Iran

Nit to mention incompetent coach and federation and government who have made enemies of so many countries!

So we screwed ourselves. Sure US gov put up some minor inconvenience but that is WC

Look at England v Mexico. They have to play at altitude, MUST spend at least one night in Mexico and the whole country will try to keep them awake and inconvenience them in other ways...like all other Mexican opponents have faced?

Iranian mentality is to play a victim to cover for all its own shortcomings. Blame someone else instead of yourself.

[Prowess]

Let's dispense with that little time zone MYTH so is is not repeated again.

It typically takes 0.5 to 1day of recovery for each time zone hour When traveling westward. So most if not all of the team had fully recovered.

Now it takes 1-1.5 days of recovery for each time zone when traveling East...which NZ team did on May 27, crossing 16 time zones TO Florida. Do the math....NZ team would have the same amount of jetlag...or lack of jetlag as TM.

Now...
Iran's visa was approved on June 5 while they were in Turkey...11 days before the game. Why did we not leave earlier?
Why was Iran in Turkey and not in another country closer to the USA...like Mexico? Who decided that? IFF
Who decided to leave out some of our best players? IFF and IR
Who fielded the oldest team in WC history? GN
Who burdened the training staff with IRGC people? IR.
Who could not get results against a weak NZ side ? Iran

Nit to mention incompetent coach and federation and government who have made enemies of so many countries!

So we screwed ourselves. Sure US gov put up some minor inconvenience but that is WC

Look at England v Mexico. They have to play at altitude, MUST spend at least one night in Mexico and the whole country will try to keep them awake and inconvenience them in other ways...like all other Mexican opponents have faced?

Iranian mentality is to play a victim to cover for all its own shortcomings. Blame someone else instead of yourself.

We iranians have a problem with victimhood mentality and lack of accountability. At the same time, when it comes to judging others we can be quite ruthless in terms of minimizing the positives, amplifying the negatives, and lacking contextual nuance.

Yes, 0.5 day to 1 day per 1 hr time difference in theory. But in reality, ideally it's 1 day per 1 hour time difference. NZ's time difference to Florida is 16 hours. They had a full 19 days before their opener to acclimate.

Iran on the other hand, had only 8 days to adapt for a 10 hr time zone difference. On top of all that: how many friendlies could they get on American soil? Zero. How many did New Zealand get? 2 excellent friendlies against England & Haiti. There were actual concerns about our players' sluggishness before their first match. I do not recall any similar concerns from the NZ camp.

To add insult to injury: NZ arrived in their hotel in Los Angeles the day before the match at 2:30 pm. Team Melli was held up 3.5 hours in the airport,and didn't arrive unit 8:30 pm.

To merely say "US gov put some minor inconvenience" is unfair. Because of the war, Iran's league had to shut down starting in February, and at least 2 friendlies were cancelled due to this.

I wasn't a fan of GN or his squad selection. However, the facts are: we won best player in every game, and played BETTER with each match and 100% deserved to beat Egypt.

We can agree to disagree. But to minimize our unique set of circumstances before the world cup even began, as well as all the bad luck we experienced during the Egypt game, and mathematically not benefiting from the 85%+ chance of qualifying based on the results of other matches, is a bit cruel. Almost every Western major media outlet has expressed this.

[koorosh]

.

We can agree to disagree. But to minimize our unique set of circumstances before the world cup even began, as well as all the bad luck we experienced during the Egypt game, and mathematically not benefiting from the 85%+ chance of qualifying based on the results of other matches, is a bit cruel. Almost every Western major media outlet has expressed this.

Very civil reply...thanks.

[Dreamer]

This is the 3rd consecutive World Cup where we didn't make it through the Group Stage, at this point I think it's clear that it's not our coaching or the players, there's a deeper rooted issue that we need to fix. We need to figure that out. We can argue about this or that, but we have a much larger problem here that starts with fixing our infrastructure. That needs to get fixed, until then it'll be the same system, where we might get lucky and get through to knockouts in 4 years on team capability alone, but our problems are much larger than this.

[Artaxerxes]

This is the 3rd consecutive World Cup where we didn't make it through the Group Stage, at this point I think it's clear that it's not our coaching or the players, there's a deeper rooted issue that we need to fix. We need to figure that out. We can argue about this or that, but we have a much larger problem here that starts with fixing our infrastructure. That needs to get fixed, until then it'll be the same system, where we might get lucky and get through to knockouts in 4 years on team capability alone, but our problems are much larger than this.

We dont need to figure out anything, we already know, the larger problem is I.R

Anybody that claims otherwise in 2026 are a part of the problem.