Iran came agonizingly close to knocking Portugal out of the 2018 World Cup on Monday and they could’ve topped Group B had a late chance from Mehdi Taremi gone the other side of the post.
Instead they are heading home at the group stage.
But there was something other than the chaos involving VAR and Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty kick which incensed some concerned with Iran: the spelling on Portugal’s jerseys.
As is the case for international games, the opposition and date of the game is stitched on the jersey by the badge to commemorate the occasion.
Yet when a close-up shot of Portugal’s jersey was shown on television, many Iranians were up in arms as they thought the jerseys read “Iraq v Portugal, 25 June, 2018, Saransk.”
Of course, Iraq are Iran’s fierce rivals, so, cue uproar among the Iranian contingent.
However, when it was quickly pointed out that Iran is spelt “Irao” in Portuguese, then, well, it all made sense.
One of the more bizarre situations in this World Cup so far...
