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Sporting Witness: Iran v the USA

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iran usa handshake cropped.jpg

19/05/2018 GMT

Iran v the USA

BBC World Service - Sporting Witness, Iran v the USA

The politically-charged showdown at the 1998 football World Cup between Iran and the US

Sporting Witness goes back to 1998 and a politically-charged showdown between the USA and Iran, in the second part of a World Cup series. Despite fears of a diplomatic incident, the match went smoothly, ending with an Iranian victory and warm handshakes between the rival players. Freddy Chick talks to Iranian-born Fifa official, Mehrdad Masoudi, the man in charge of ensuring a football match did not create a diplomatic crisis, and to the US captain, Thomas Dooley. 

(Photo: The US and Iranian captains, Thomas Dooley and Ahmadreza Abedzadeh, shake hands before the game. Credit: Getty Images)

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