At their first game at the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Yugoslavia, homeland lost 1–0 to a free kick by Siniša Mihajlović. Homeland recorded their first World Cup victory in the second game beating and eliminating the United States 2–1 with Hamid Estili and Mehdi Mahdavikia scoring goals for homeland. The Iran-US World Cup match was preheated with certain excitement because of each countr