A Player's Backside Just Cost His Team a World Cup Goal

It was a special day for Iranian soccer, as they drew Belgium in Los Angeles to put themselves in a strong position to make it out of their group heading into their final game of the opening round against Egypt.

But it could have been the greatest day in the history of the team, if only not for one big issue.

Mehdi Taremi’s backside.

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Although Iran fought tooth and nail against Belgium and even had a man advantage for the final quarter of the game following a red card to defender Nathan Ngoy, they thought they had taken the lead earlier in the match off a master set piece.

With a free kick a little outside the box, Iran faked going for a looping shot or pass over the Belgium wall, and instead passed it directly forward to Taremi who smashed the ball into the back of the net. The Iranian-sided crowd in L.A. jumped for joy as the venue shook with the cheers from the supporters, with Taremi and his team celebrating what would have been a legendary goal for the nation.

Except he was offside, and the goal got called back.

Usually when a goal is waved offside, the replay video shows a player a few steps or maybe sometimes even an inch in front of the final defender. That wasn’t the case with Taremi, who actually had his feet behind the ultimate Belgian defender. His issue came from the fact that his backside was protruding over the invisible offside line, flagging it as illegal.

Iran will finish off their group stage play next week against Egypt, possibly needing only a point to make it through to the Round of 32. A win would push them into contention for possibly stealing the group away from Belgium, depending on other results within the quartet.

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This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 7:26 PM.