Hoover students and teachers alike were invested in Tuesday’s FIFA World Cup game between Iran (white) and the US national team (blue).

The game, played at the Al Thumana Stadium in Qatar with an expandable 44,000 people capacity, was the first between the two nations in nearly 23 years.

Supporters of both teams had different predictions for the outcome.

Some, like Anthony Peterson, an AP Psychology and AP Econ teacher at Hoover, were “of course rooting for the United States.”

Ultimately, the US won, 1-0, despite Iran’s several hard and heart-dropping attempts at making goals throughout the game, and especially near the end of the game.

Some were sad over Iran’s loss, while others like Peterson were “happy they won.” 

And with that victory, the US will move on to qualify for the round of 16 that follows the group matches. Iran, meanwhile, will not be qualifying for the round of 16 and is therefore eliminated from the FIFA World Cup.

The next US match will be against the Netherlands, and unless they switch some things up, “it won’t be pretty,” said World History teacher Jason Umansky.

Some students were very emotional too. 

“I was watching the game that meant everything to me and my friends because of all the stuff that is going on in Iran,” said Hoover freshman Gari Kotandjian. “I am very disappointed with today’s results because we played more and we don’t have a playing style besides kicking the ball and diving for penalties but at the end of the day we lost again to the US.”

Both teams put on an extraordinary display of talent and dedication, allowing for an “exciting game” as PSA teacher Kris Lowe put it, “the end was pretty exciting too when Iran came close to scoring a goal.”