Controversial Offside Call Negates United States’s Second Goal vs. Iran
A controversial offside call in the United States men’s national team match against Iran took away the U.S.’s chance of going up 2–0 in the first half of the team’s last group-stage game.
On a pass from midfielder Weston McKennie through a lane of defenders to forward Tim Weah during stoppage time, the LOSC Lille player outdueled Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand with a beautifully placed shot slotted just inside the goal’s right post. The goal was negated almost immediately, as the assistant referee put up his flag to signal Weah was offside.
The call caused some outrage, with fans claiming Weah was not in fact offside. However, a closer look at the play shows the 22-year-old was ahead of the Iranian defenders when the ball left Mckennie’s foot, even if by centimeters.
The USMNT held on in the second half after forward Christian Pulisic found the net to break the scoreless draw in the 37th minute. It will now advance to face the Netherlands in the round of 16.
