Understanding the Offside Call
For a fleeting moment, Iran thought it had secured the goal that would propel it to the next round. In the 93rd minute of stoppage time against Egypt, Shoja Khalilzadeh struck the ball into an empty net after a chaotic sequence inside the box, sending the Iranian team into raptures as they believed they had scored the late winner that would guarantee their spot in the knockout stage as the second-place team in Group G.
However, the celebrations were short-lived as VAR intervened, and the goal was disallowed for offside. Initially, the decision seemed perplexing, as Yasser Ibrahim was behind Khalilzadeh when the ball reached him, leading many to assume that Khalilzadeh was onside.
But Ibrahim was not the second-last Egyptian player; he was the last one. The position of Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir was crucial, as he had come out and was ahead of Khalilzadeh on the play, altering the offside line. Typically, the goalkeeper is one of the two opponents closest to the goal, leading to the common misconception that offside is determined by the 'last defender'.
The rule, however, is based on the second-last opponent. With Shobeir further up the field, Ibrahim being behind Khalilzadeh was insufficient to keep him onside. Ibrahim was only the final Egyptian player back, while the second-last Egyptian player was Hamza Abdelkarim, and Khalilzadeh was ahead of him when the ball came his way.
This put Khalilzadeh in an offside position. Despite having 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.
The disallowed goal was a crushing blow for Iran. A 93rd-minute winner would have automatically sent them into the knockout stage. Instead, the match remained 1-1, Egypt clung to second place, and Iran was left waiting on other results to determine if it would advance as one of the best third-place teams.
