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Pharaohs, Iran play out stalemate

football27 June 2026 05:27| © Backpage TXT
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Egypt and Iran played out a 1-1 stalemate in their 2026 Fifa World Cup group G match at Seattle Stadium on Saturday morning.

The Pharaohs and Team Melli cancelled each other out via respective goals from Mahmoud Saber and Ramin Rezaeian, though the Asian team missed several key chances – including a penalty – to claim a win which would have guaranteed progression into the round of 32.

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Instead, they are left waiting to see if they will be one of the eight best-ranked third-placed finishers. Egypt, meanwhile, finished second and will play Australia in their round-of-32 match in Dallas next Friday evening (20:00 CAT).

Egypt got off to a flying start and claimed the lead in the fifth minute, with Mahmoud Saber latching onto a loose ball in the penalty area and driving a low shot through goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand – who really should have done better in his attempt to save.

Iran responded strongly and won a penalty for a foul from Mohamed Abdelmonem, but Mehdi Taremi’s 11th-minute spot kick was brilliantly saved by Pharaohs goalkeeper Oufa Shobeir.

Yet Team Melli got back on level terms just three minutes later: Shobeir made a superb save to keep out Milad Mohammadi’s curler toward the bottom corner, but Ramin Rezaeian ran onto the rebound and scored from an incredibly tight angle for 1-1.

The match turned scrappy for the remainder of the first half, with neither side able to keep up the breathless pace set in the opening quarter hour, and the interval arrived with the score still level at one goal apiece.

Egypt made a double change at the start of the second half, as Omar Marmoush and Marwan Attia replaced Emam Ashour and Mahmoud Saber, while Mohamed Salah made way just before the hour mark to allow Zizo’s introduction. Salah was seen on the bench with ice applied to his left hamstring – a worry for the North Africans ahead of their round of 32 clash.

As the match wore on, Iran began to take more attacking risks in an effort to win the match and secure guaranteed advancement to the next round, with the 89th minute seeing Taremi hit the crossbar with a header from a corner kick – though a foul was awarded to Egypt in the immediate aftermath.

Team Melli thought they had claimed a dramatic winner in injury time, with a free-kick into the Egypt box causing all kinds of trouble before Shoja Khalilzadeh scrambled the ball home, but a VAR review scrapped the goal for offside.

Iran also hit the crossbar via Saeid Ezatolahi, a spurned last chance to win the game and guarantee progression into the round of 32.

Egypt (1) 1 (M. Saber 5’)

Iran (1) 1 (R. Rezaeian 14’)

Egypt: O. Shobeir, M. Hany, R. Rabia, M. Abdelmonem (Y. Ibrahim 14’), A. Fatouh, M. Lasheen, M. Saber (M. Attia 46’), E. Ashour (O. Marmoush 46’), M. Salah (Zizo 57’), Trezeguet, M. Ziko (H. Abdelkarim 76’)

Iran: A. Beiranvand, R. Rezaeian, H. Kanaani, S. Khalilzadeh, A. Nemati (S. Hardani 46’), M. Mohammadi, S. Ghoddos (S. Moghanlou 67’), M. Ghorbani, S. Ezatolahi, M. Mohebi (A. Jahanbakhsh 90+1’), M. Taremi

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