Iran’s Late Goal vs Egypt Explained: Why VAR Ruled It Out for Offside

For a brief spell, it seemed Iran had delivered the decisive goal it needed to advance.

In the 93rd minute of stoppage time against Egypt, Shoja Khalilzadeh finished into an unguarded net after a chaotic scramble in the penalty area. Iranian players erupted, believing they had found the late winner that would send them into the knockout rounds as Group G’s second-place side.

Then the VAR review changed everything.

The strike was chalked off for offside, a call that understandably appeared puzzling at first. Yasser Ibrahim was positioned behind Khalilzadeh when the ball reached him, making it look as though the Egyptian defender had played him onside.

The key detail, however, was that Ibrahim was not the second-last Egypt player — he was the last.

That made the positioning of Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir crucial. Shobeir had moved off his line and was ahead of Khalilzadeh during the sequence, shifting the offside reference point. Because goalkeepers are usually among the two opponents nearest their own goal, offside is often casually described in terms of the “last defender.”

In reality, the law is not about the last defender specifically; it is about the second-last opponent.

With Shobeir stationed higher up the pitch, Ibrahim’s position behind Khalilzadeh did not make the Iranian defender onside. Ibrahim was simply the final Egyptian player back. The second-last opponent was Hamza Abdelkarim, and Khalilzadeh was beyond him when the ball was played.

That put Khalilzadeh in an offside position.

So even though there was an Egyptian defender behind him, Iran’s goal could not stand. Khalilzadeh needed to be level with or behind the second-last opponent, not just one Egyptian player near the goal line.

It was a devastating moment for Iran. A 93rd-minute winner would have sent it into the knockout stage automatically. Instead, the match stayed 1-1, Egypt held onto second place, and Iran was left waiting on other results to see if it would advance as one of the best third-place teams.

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