The tense and closed faces of the past few days have become all smiles in Shohada (Martyrs) Square, in a working-class area in central Tehran.

In the middle of the flags, parents danced with their children on their shoulders, to the sound of plastic trumpets and the music that escaped from the cars completely immobilized in a huge traffic jam.

In front of a mosque in Saadat Abad, an upscale district of the capital, the car horns drowned out the cries of joy, because in just over 90 minutes the Iranian Cheetahs offered a tremendous gift to a tried population, by managing to put knee the Welsh Dragons.

Enough to revive the hope of a qualification for the round of 16 of this World Cup in Qatar, which would be a first in the history of "Team Melli" and which will depend on the highly symbolic match against the United States, Tuesday in Group B.

"I am delighted with this victory, said 18-year-old Mehdi, because my passion is not politics but football. In addition, I am happy that the goalkeeper washed away the humiliating defeat on Monday when he conceded six goals “, in the first match against England (6-2).

"The previous match we were under terrible pressure due to the situation in the country, but today we decided to go for it," said Reza, 24, who came to watch the match with a friend.

"We won"

The mood had changed.

This time, the team sang the national anthem and in the stands the public did not chant a slogan hostile to "Team Melli", as against England.

Many Iranians waving flags amid a concert of horns in the capital Tehran, after the victory against the Welsh, November 25, 2022 Atta KENARE AFP

The disenchantment between part of the public and the national team seems to have faded and the reproaches addressed to it have given way to applause.

Two women, in their fifties, however, have not forgiven.

"We have always supported the national team but not this time. We are in mourning for the young people who died during the protests," said Fariba.

The police were omnipresent in the streets as they have been for the past two months, but this time not to strike.

In the famous Valiasr Avenue, the longest thoroughfare in the capital, a squad of riot police on motorcycles did not twirl their batons as they drove but held a large Iranian flag.

In several other cities of the country, the atmosphere was also festive, according to images from the official television, even where blood flowed as in Zahedan, in Sistan-Balochistan, where the clashes of the last weeks left dozens dead. according to the report of the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Norway.

The joy of Iran's players and staff after a goal against the Welsh at Al-Rayyan, November 25, 2022 Antonin THUILLIER AFP

For Jaffar, a 48-year-old worker from the province of Guilan (north), "this victory does us good. It is our national team, not that of the government, which won the victory. We are the ones who won ".

Arman, 28, does not share this opinion.

"This team is completely indifferent to me. For the moment, the wounds have not healed."

the Iranian players have in particular been strongly criticized by opponents for having accepted to be received by the ultra-conservative president Ebrahim Raïssi before their departure for Qatar.

The latter thanked in a press release "the whole of the national team which fought with all its might to offer the people the pleasant taste of victory".

© 2022 AFP