In 1997 Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup, setting off street celebrations and spontaneous demonstrations and confirming that sport could in fact unite-or ignite-a nation. Maziar Bahari's street-level documentary examines the delirious hold that football (soccer) has on Iranians, whether they be obsessed young men in Tehran's biggest stadium, immigrants living in Germany, or young girls who practice their soccer skills in secret. Further proving that sport mirrors a nation's psyche (and, depending on the score, sometimes influences it), Football, Iranian Style crystallizes social influences such as war, religion, and capitalism through its subjects' passions. As one obsessed fan (the son of an Iran-Iraq war martyr) unnervingly vows to sacrifice his life for his favorite team, claiming to always wear the squad's red colors, a star player tellingly responds, “My blood is green now, the color of money.”