M. Taremi: This was a catastrophic World Cup, football should not be part of politics

On June 27 (local time), in the third group stage match of the FIFA World Cup in Group G, Egypt drew 1-1 with Iran. After the match, Iranian forward Mehdi Taremi gave an interview in the mixed zone.

First, how do you feel about the dramatic finish to this match?

Unfortunately, I'm sad, but we still have hope. People always have hope. We had good energy in the dressing room after the match. So let's see what happens next. We're looking forward to tomorrow's match and we'll see what the result is.

Do you know if you need to travel back to Tijuana tonight?

Yes, we need to go back. We've been complaining about this from the beginning.

This is a catastrophic FIFA World Cup. I mean, FIFA should have solved all the problems here, but unfortunately they couldn't solve them from the start.

Infantino came to our training room during the first match and said he would solve everything. But tomorrow the group stage ends, and our logistics staff isn't here—they don't have visas.

How is it possible that we always have to go to Tijuana? We love the Mexican people, we love Tijuana, it's a beautiful place, they're very kind, we love them.

However, as professional players in a professional competition, this is wrong. Yes, that's our opinion. Because now we have to go to Tijuana again. No recovery time, nothing—it's unfair. In our view, it's unfair. If FIFA thinks it's fair, then fine, it works for them. But it's unfair.

Who wants to help us? If they want us to leave, fine, then help us, let us go. But it's unfair. We have no recovery time. We don't have logistics staff here to help us. What else can we say? We complain about these things, but no one helps. No one.

You just complained about travel problems. What do you think about VAR disallowing two of your goals in consecutive matches for being offside by a few centimeters after watching the replays?

That's a football-related issue. But what we're complaining about are problems unrelated to football, because these details also matter in football. You know, recovery is very important—small details can affect a football match.

Yes, we just... we have hope, as I said, we have good energy in the dressing room. We'll look forward and see what happens in tomorrow's match.

Look, there's nothing to expect from the match because from the beginning of this situation until now, we've done everything we could in 90 minutes. We're proud of ourselves. If something goes wrong, that's my responsibility because I didn't score the penalty. If the team can get past the group stage, thank God.

Do you think someone wants Iran to leave this tournament as soon as possible? Do you think it would be more convenient for FIFA and U.S. authorities if Iran weren't in the competition? Do you and your team have to fight against these things?

We have to fight against everything here. I don't know if people think that way, but from our perspective, yes, I think they would like that.

How is it possible? You play 90 minutes under such pressure, and then we have to go back again. Imagine if we get past the group stage tomorrow—we'd be lucky, we'd advance—but we have no recovery time. How is that possible?

Can you explain? Did this FIFA World Cup let you down?

No, we did everything we could. We will always do everything we can. We fight for our people. We want them to be happy, we want to bring them joy. We want to send a message of peace to people inside Iran, outside Iran, to FIFA, to everyone.

But what others are giving us is not peace. Who will help us solve this problem? Who? FIFA? I don't know. The U.S.? I don't know. Who? Name it.

Could Infantino have done more to solve this problem?

As I said, Infantino came during the first match and said he would solve all the problems here. But in reality, nothing has been done.

Our logistics don't work here. Look, we don't have media—where is our own media? You can check, there's no media here. No media. None. I don't know where the equipment manager is. No one. The vice president, the president, where are these people?

How much would you like to be standing here talking only about what happens on the football pitch, without discussing all these things off the pitch?

On the football pitch? Do you mean this match? No, we have strength. As you saw, we played well. I think we fought for 90 minutes, which was excellent. Yes, because of some small details, we couldn't win the match.

But we're here, we're standing here, we want to prove ourselves. As I said, we want to bring joy to our people. But I mean, small details affect the game, recovery is important, a clear mind is important, but we don't have a clear mind here.

You talked about various situations. I want to ask—this match was called a "battle of pride," there was a lot of discussion about it. How did that factor affect you?

In our religion, that's not acceptable. But we respect all LGBTQ+ people. That's their own belief, it has nothing to do with us. We're here to play football. We respect all these people. If you have questions about the match, I'll answer them.

Can you talk about the connection between you and your teammates in the dressing room? There's a video online where you're talking to the whole team. Tell us about your relationships and your desire to continue this journey with them.

Taremi's motivational speech before the match: Don't show weakness against star players, clear your mind and run with all your strength.

Yes, we're looking forward to continuing our journey. We have good energy inside, but we also need to speak about these external circumstances. We need to talk about these things because we can't always keep them inside. Some people don't like us, but we believe that's wrong.

I think we have very good energy in the dressing room, positive energy. We will continue. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Last question. Given everything you've been through, what would it mean for Iranian football to advance to the next round?

My friend, honestly, we came here to make our history. We're pursuing that goal. We've done everything for them.

I don't know what else to say. Let's just wait until tomorrow. If our dream comes true, thank God; if not, I think we're still proud of our play, our players. Because of everything we've done in these last three matches, we're proud. Let's see what happens.