Compare football and wrestling like this "The hot wrestling kids, who compete for 6 minutes and win world gold, don't care about anyone. " The Chelsea and Manchester United match reporter said this on the Saturday Night Sports Network. After the success of the Omid and senior categories of the national wrestling team in the world championships, such sentences were heard many times from sportsmen or even football players themselves. A comparison that is both incorrect and correct. But why?
Structurally, these two sports are different. Wrestling is an individual sport, less expensive, with a clear path to medals and rankings. Iranian wrestling has been one of the heavyweights in this field since ancient times. Football, on the other hand, is a team game, which depends on professional club management, the transfer market and the quality of the local league and legionnaires. Iran has not been respected in Asia for many years and has never been among the contenders on the world football map. "Football and wrestling are two different branches and the comparison is not a good comparison in terms of performance and we have many differences." Hasan Rangarz, the head coach of the national wrestling team, said this in response to reporters about this comparison. The criteria for success in these two professions are different from earth to heaven. In wrestling, society's expectations have risen to such an extent that the bronze medals of Yazdani and Amozed or the runner-up position of the world champion will no longer satisfy them, and they only want gold and championships. On the other hand, in football the dream is limited to promotion from the group stage of the World Cup. The other side of the coin is the work culture, management and responsibility. "We all owe people; because we travel and camp with people's money. We must be responsible and servants of the people." Rangers said this golden sentence after returning to Tehran with the trophy. Just remember the statements of the head coach of the football team and his technical staff after the World Cup. Where Kalnoy called the three draws in the 2026 World Cup, which did not lead to promotion, a great achievement: "For the first time we did not lose in the group stage." The main point of football critics is the same: not that footballers should win medals like wrestlers, but they should show the same level of commitment, preparation, discipline and sensitivity. The behavior of the athletes also made the people's view of the footballers more negative despite the fact that it is the most popular sport in Iran.