For many players, just lacing up the boots and throwing on the national team jersey for a World Cup match marks the pinnacle of their career. Even in an expanded tournament field of 48 teams, the percentage of the population that gets to say they played in a World Cup is astronomically low, and so simply being there is reason for celebration. Just see how much one goal in a 7-1 loss meant for Curacao, or what a stunning draw against Spain meant to Cape Verde. It's the World Cup, and everyone wants to be a part of it, to soak in the world's attention, and to make their mark.
This is all to say that the Iran national team should be flying high after not just playing in the World Cup on Monday, but taking part in the best match of the tournament so far: a 2-2 draw against New Zealand that had gorgeous goals, back-and-forth trips to the fireworks factory, and the kind of white-knuckle intensity that is unique to this tournament. Twice Iran went down a goal, and twice it tied the game back up, the second time from one of the best and most accurate crosses you will ever see, with Ramin Rezaeian finding Mohammad Mohebi's head in the box in perfect position to equalize.
The match, which took place in Los Angeles, was a beautiful thing to watch, a reward for the late-night soccer sickos (at least on the East Coast and beyond) who love the World Cup almost as much as the players. Following that draw, and the crucial point that goes with it, Iran should have been able to celebrate as a team and with their fans. Instead, the other side of this specific World Cup reared its ugly, embarrassing head.
As the Trump administration continues to bungle its way through a disgraceful and failed war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, it has also continued waging a disgraceful war of a different sort with the Iran national team, in an effort to make their lives at this event as difficult as possible. This is why the Iranian team, fresh off a draw that should have been the talk of the sport, could not bask in the achievement and instead had to depart the United States immediately, returning to its base camp in Tijuana.
After having been given little clarity on just exactly how Iran would be able to participate in its three U.S.-hosted group stage games, the players were told that they could fly into the U.S. only the day before their games and had to leave the day after; initially, the plan had been to arrive two days before and then leave the day after. (The team also saw 11 of its non-playing staff denied visas to get into the country.) However, the team's plans changed again in short order when the U.S. government forced Iran to leave the States on Monday night, right after the game, rather than the originally planned Tuesday.
Predictably, no one is happy about this, save for maybe the people enforcing this vindictive retribution. Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei didn't mince words after the match, saying that Iran is "the most oppressed team in the whole World Cup" and that an unnamed "they" did not let the team relax and recover after the game, instead telling the players and staff to leave immediately back to the base camp in Tijuana.
After Monday's match but before the trip back to Mexico, FIFA president and Trump boot- and butt-licker Gianni Infantino went into the Iran locker room and spoke to the team. In a video posted by Tasnim News, Infantino praised the Iranian team and expressed empathy with their situation, saying, "I know what you go through, I understand, but you are stronger than everything. You send a strong message to the entire world. Tonight you united the whole stadium here." Unmoved by this reprise of his infamous "Today, I feel gay" speech, Ghalenoei asked Infantino if FIFA would step in to help fix things. Infantino deflected, saying, "This is just the beginning of the World Cup. You are writing history, the whole world is watching you. Continue to play with your heart, for your people, your families, for your fans, and for everyone in the world that is falling in love with Team Melli." Today, Infantino feels impotent.
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi did say he believes Infantino is trying to help, but also that this "trying" clearly is insufficient: "For sure, he wants to try to help us, but it's about other things, too. Everyone knows it. I think FIFA has to help us more than this. Let's see what happens in the future." In addition to the psychological impact of being treated like criminals during what should be some of the best days of your career, Taremi also noted the on-field impact of things like having to skip the customary post-game recovery session, saying that the immediate flight back to Mexico is "not good for football, because in the World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, because it is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone." Mohebi, who scored the team's second goal, called the treatment "unfair" and said "we should come here two days before the game. Yesterday we started the trip in the morning and we arrived in the afternoon. Then we go to the training and we get tired. We need fair competition."
For all the genuine entertainment this World Cup has already provided—to which we can add the action in Iran-New Zealand near the top of the list—the plight of the Iranian team is a harsh reminder of the hideousness that looms over it all. I hope the team somehow manages to rise above it and has a long and glorious run in the tournament, for the sake of the players, who deserve a memorable World Cup for everything they're having to endure, and also for the sake of the rest of us, so that the looming hideousness doesn't get forgotten.
