92 years in the making: Egypt survive VAR drama to draw Iran and reach the last 32 for the first time

Egypt drew 1-1 with Iran to reach the Round of 32 for the first time in their 92-year World Cup history. Mahmoud Saber struck early off a Mohamed Salah move, Ramin Rezaeian levelled from a saved Taremi penalty, and a 93rd-minute Iran winner was ruled out by VAR. Salah went off with a hamstring worry.

Egypt are through, and they did it the hard way. A pulsating 1-1 draw with Iran in Seattle sent the Pharaohs into the Round of 32 for the first time in their 92-year World Cup history, a monumental milestone for one of African football's grand old names. It took a fast start, a penalty save and a heart-stopping VAR review to get there, but get there they did.

The tempo was set inside five minutes. Mahmoud Saber slotted home an early opener from a move orchestrated by Mohamed Salah, one of the fastest World Cup goals in Egypt's history. Iran's reply was just as quick, and just as historic. After captain Mehdi Taremi won and took a penalty, Mostafa Shobeir guessed right and saved superbly, only for Ramin Rezaeian to pounce on the rebound and fire home from a tight angle on fourteen minutes.

From there it became a test of Egyptian nerve. Iran, undefeated through the group and playing with the freedom of a side with little to lose, pushed hard for a winner that would have flipped the entire group on its head and dropped Egypt to third.

The closing minutes were chaos. In the ninety-third minute Shojae Khalilzadeh poked home a loose ball and the Iranian bench erupted, only for a lengthy VAR review to chalk it off for offside. Seconds before the whistle Saeid Ezatolahi rattled a header off the crossbar. Egypt survived, barely, and the relief on the bench told the story of what was at stake.

There was a worry to temper the joy. Salah came off with a bandaged hamstring, an anxious sight for a nation that leans so heavily on its talisman with a Round of 32 tie to come. Hossam Hassan's side will pray their captain is fit.

Egypt finish as runners-up in Group G, behind a Belgium side that took top spot, after earlier holding the Red Devils to a draw and beating New Zealand. For Iran, under Amir Ghalenoei, it is a cruel exit: undefeated on three draws, yet left waiting on the third-place math after the narrowest of margins denied them a famous win.

For Kenya, this was a night of pure pan-African pride. With no Kenyan side at the finals, fans poured their hopes into the Pharaohs, and Egypt reaching the knockouts for the first time in nearly a century felt like a continental triumph. There was real sympathy for Iran too, a side that has battled travel and training hardships to stay unbeaten. Misri wamefika, bara letu linasonga mbele: Egypt have arrived, the continent marches on. Our Africa round-one verdict backed Egypt to go deep, while our Asia verdict saluted Iran's resilience.