Iran Legend Sadegh Varmiziar Says It's “Life or Death” Against Egypt

Former Iran international Sadegh Varmiziar has described his team’s upcoming 2026 World Cup match against Egypt as a “life or death” affair amid the race for the knockout stage.

The game will take place on Saturday morning in the third round of Group G, with Egypt and Iran entering from markedly different positions in the standings and with varying momentum.

Egypt arrive confident after a historic 3‑1 win over New Zealand in their second group game, their first World Cup victory, which lifted morale following a difficult opening match.

Iran come into the game after a disciplined 0‑0 draw with Belgium, a result that highlighted their defensive organization and resilience even though they did not earn a win.

Khabar Sport reports that Varmiziar acknowledged the pressure but maintained that Iran still have a chance to achieve a positive result.

“The day of the match against Egypt is undoubtedly difficult for the national team players, but this difficult day may end with a happy ending for us,” said Sadegh Varmiziar.

He analyzed Iran’s recent performances, noting both shortcomings and improvements over the first two matches.

“We had the opportunity to win the first match, but unfortunately the young players were a bit nervous and the coach did not put together a solid defensive plan for the team. Nemati and Khalilzadeh were not a successful duo, and we saw how their performance improved in the next match despite the Belgian pressure. There is no need to regret the first match. We implemented a good defensive tactic in the second match and were able to collect two points.”

Varmiziar said Iran’s tactical evolution could compel Egypt to rethink their strategy, especially after seeing the different styles Iran employed against Belgium and New Zealand.

“Now that we have shown two styles of play against Belgium and New Zealand, the Egyptian coach will reconsider his view of both styles. He will certainly have a plan to open up these lines after seeing how our team keeps its goal with 9 players in defense.”

He added that Egypt’s attacking strength would make the match even more demanding and cautioned against concentrating solely on a few star players.

“I heard that besides Mohamed Salah and Marmoush, they have another player called Zico who is also a good goalscorer, so we should not focus all our attention on stopping Salah and Marmoush only, but we should also think about the Egyptian national team’s wingers, as they are very dangerous.”

The former midfielder praised Egypt’s attacking display against Belgium, noting they were unlucky not to inflict more damage in that game.

“They threatened Courtois’ goal many times in the Belgium match, and if any other goalkeeper had been in goal, Belgium would have thrown up their hands (given up) as New Zealand did against Egypt.”

With qualification still possible, Varmiziar stressed the importance of earning at least a point, describing the fixture as potentially