Offside

A girl disguises herself as a boy to attend the 2006 World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, a moment that unfolds with quiet, observant detail and a restrained, almost social-realist gaze. The central character moves through a crowd of male supporters, tucked into a bus ride toward the stadium, where some of the men glimpse her gender and choose to keep quiet rather than expose her. The journey itself becomes part of the film’s subtle choreography, a testimony to how a single disguise can ripple through a public space that is at once festive and punitive.

That central girl is portrayed by Ayda Sadeqi. Upon reaching the grounds of Azadi Stadium, she convinces a hesitant ticket tout to sell her a ticket, albeit at a price inflated by chance and necessity. She makes a first attempt to slip past security, only to be spotted and arrested. Her capture leads to a holding pen that sits on the stadium roof, where several other women who were caught are also confined. The pen sits frustratingly close to a window that looks out on the match, yet the women are still at a perceptual angle that keeps the action just out of sight.

The women are guarded by several soldiers who are doing their national service; among them is a young Iranian Azeri man from Tabriz who simply longs to return to his farm. The guards themselves are bored and indifferent to the question of whether women should be allowed to attend football matches, but they maintain their vigilance for fear of what their “chief” might do if he discovers a breach. Their banter is a running, almost casual commentary on the game, a backdrop to the tension of the moment.

A practical dilemma comes when one of the younger girls needs the toilet. There is no women’s toilet visible in the stadium, so a soldier escorts her to the men’s facilities. The escorting process becomes almost farcical: disguising her face with a poster of a football star, and then physically reorganizing the space by ejecting angry men and blocking others from entering. Amid the chaos, the girl manages to slip back into the stadium, though her concern for the Azeri soldier from Tabriz who is in trouble leads her to return to the holding pen after a moment.

Partway through the second half, a bus carrying the women and a boy arrested for fireworks is organized to take them to the Vice Squad headquarters. As the vehicle moves through Tehran, the Azeri guard relays the live radio commentary on the match as it concludes. Iran defeats Bahrain 1-0, with Mohammad Nosrati scoring just after halftime, and the bus erupts in jubilant cheer as the women and the soldiers celebrate together, a shared release of emotion that feels earned by their collective experience. Yet the girl at the center of the story remains unhappy, and when asked why, she reveals that football is not her true interest; she attended the game in memory of a friend who was killed in a scuffle during the Iran–Japan match, a personal motive that sets her apart from the surrounding revelry.

The city of Tehran itself seems to erupt in celebration, and the bus winds its way into a traffic jam that gives rise to a spontaneous street party. Borrowing seven sparklers from the boy with the fireworks, the women and the soldiers step off the bus to join the street party, lifting those sparklers high as a beacon of shared moment.

The film was shot at an actual stadium during a qualifying match for the Iranian national team, a decision that grounds the drama in real-time tension and raw authenticity. Panahi himself has noted that the film could have two separate endings depending on the turnout of the match, a narrative honesty that mirrors the unpredictability and contingency of life in a stadium and a city in the throes of celebration.

The film also features Shayesteh Irani and Sima Mobarak-Shahi in supporting roles, adding depth to the ensemble as their characters move through the same charged environment with quiet presence and a measured, humane curiosity. Their performances help render the moment as not just a football anecdote but a broader meditation on visibility, rule, and public space.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 10:29