PHOTO: AFP

STAR SPORTS DESK

Iran’s World Cup fate hanged by a thread after a dramatic 93rd-minute winner from Shoja Khalilzadeh was ruled out by VAR against Egypt on Saturday. The -1-1 draw sent Egypt through, leaving a heartbroken Iran stranded on three points and anxiously waiting on other results to determine if they can squeeze into the Round of 32.

The stadium erupted when Khalilzadeh slammed home a loose rebound during a chaotic set-piece scramble. However, the celebrations were cut short when Polish referee Szymon Marciniak was called to review the build-up.

The disallowed goal boils down to the strict mechanics of FIFA’s Law 11.

Offside is judged at the exact microsecond a ball is touched by a teammate, not when the final shot is taken. According to the rulebook, the timing of the offside is judged “at the first point of contact of the play or touch by a teammate.”

When a deep free-kick was floated into the box, an Iranian player flicked it deeper into the six-yard box. At that precise split second, two Iranian attackers were standing on the doorstep of the goal in an offside position.

While standing there is not an offence, it became an infraction the moment they engaged in the frantic goal-line scramble. FIFA dictates a player is penalised upon “becoming involved in active play by challenging an opponent... or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.”

By initiating that secondary chaos and blocking a clean defensive clearance, the phase of play was corrupted from its inception, forcing the referee to disallow the goal.

The result sparked absolute fury within the Iranian camp, with captain Mehdi Taremi accusing FIFA of staging a “disaster World Cup.”

“It’s not fair,” Taremi stated, pointing to severe logistics and recovery disadvantages.

“If they want us to be out, then OK; let’s get out. But that’s not fair. We have to fight against everything here.”

Coach Amir Ghalenoei echoed the sense of injustice, lamenting the brutal margins of technology.

“Because of millimetres, our goal was ruled out. That’s justice, but I’m upset by the bad luck,” he said, referencing the pre-tournament visa restrictions that crippled his staff.

“I used to think we were an oppressed team, but we are also an unlucky team,” Ghalenoei concluded.