They carry the baggage of decades of political tension, which makes the second group in the Qatar World Cup 2022 described as the politically charged group. Iran and America are directed within this group, which also includes England and Wales. Many non-spherical accounts enter into it.

The confrontation comes 24 years after the last meeting between the two teams in the 1998 World Cup in France, which was then called the “Mother of Matches” by then-NFL President Alan Rothenberg, because it also came in light of great tension in relations between the two countries.

Today, the "mother of matches" will be repeated, but on the grounds of Al-Thumama Stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha, in the third round of the second group matches, in a reality imposed by the lottery before the start of the World Cup, and perhaps it was not wished by the International Federation of Football Associations "FIFA".

The presence of Iran and America in the same group was a difficult matter to separate from politics and to consider it only mathematically, despite the FIFA slogan that says that in football there is no place for politics.

Guerlain Stadium in Lyon, France, hosted the first World Cup match between America and Iran (Getty)

irreversible path

This is because 24 years ago, things had taken an irreversible course regarding the relationship of the two countries and the impossibility of reconciliation between them after the hostage crisis of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, that is, coinciding with the revolution in Iran.

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 American residents hostage, in support of the revolution in the country.

Despite the apprehension of the spectators, the Guerlain stadium in Lyon, France, hosted the two rivals, sports and political, in the first ever football match between the two countries.

The match carried meanings for the Iranians more than being a sports game, as the Iranian player and a member of the national team at the time, Khodadad Azizi, said before its start, "For the sake of our martyrs and our people, we will not lose this match."

Any potential problems between the players were quickly nullified by FIFA, which set June 21 for "fair play", so members of the two teams gathered for a group photo and exchanged bouquets of white roses as a symbol of peace.

Iran win

The match ended with Iran's victory over America, with two goals to one, and Iran's goals were scored by Hamid Reza Astili and Mahdi Mahdavi Kia, and America's goal was Brian McBride.

This victory meant America bid farewell to the tournament, but Iran did not qualify after losing the third match against Yugoslavia, which was in the group alongside Iran, America and Germany.

But on the ground, this victory was the culmination of the World Cup for Iran, as it is their first victory in history in the World Cup, in addition to the fact that the opponent was "America".

Contrary to expectations, the match was "peaceful", and after it ended, US defender Jeff Agos said, "We did more in 90 minutes than politicians have done in 20 years."

Today, in the Qatar World Cup, history is repeated under similar circumstances, and the fans are looking forward to the second confrontation between the two opponents.

The surrounding circumstances are no different from what they were 24 years ago.

What increases the tension is that it is a decisive confrontation to qualify one of the teams for the second round, as Iran enters the match with three points on its back after defeating Wales and losing from England, while America enters the match with two points from a tie with Wales and England, and the victory of any of the two teams means its qualification directly to the second round .

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The fans of the #England national team 🏴🏴🏁🏁🏆🏆🏆🏆 before facing the #Iranian team 🇮🇷 in the #WorldCup 🏆 #Mursal_Qatar |

#Qatar2022 #England_Iran |

#Qatar_World_Cup_2022 #FIFAWorldCup |

#Qatar2022 |

#ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/2IOAHoWJmC

- Marsal Qatar (@ Marsalqatar) November 21, 2022

Just enjoying football

In this context, Iranian sports analyst Mahdi Hojabri excludes, in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, that the atmosphere of Iran's matches with America and before that the confrontation with England will be political, indicating that whoever attends the World Cup today just wants to enjoy football.

On the other hand, Iran's presence in the World Cup this time is accompanied by the fulfillment of dreams, says the Iranian cheerleader, Raha.

Raha confirms that she was dreaming of supporting her country's national team in the World Cup while sitting on the stands of the stadium, recalling that in her country she is prohibited from entering the football stadium to cheer because of the law that prevents women from entering football stadiums.

In a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, she expresses her happiness because she will support her country's national team in the most important sporting event in the world with her presence in the stadium, because the host country is a neighbor and friend, and this is what facilitates travel.

Arman, who is participating in the protests in his country, tells me that he did not support the campaign that called for the Iranian national team to be excluded from the tournament due to political hostilities, stressing that the Iranian people stand together to support their team despite the political differences in the street these days.

The Iranian national team is the second best-ranked Asian team in the FIFA World Ranking.

He attended the World Cup 6 times in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, and finally in Qatar 2022.