The heightened political tension between the US and Iran—and within Iran itself—nearly overshadowed the action on the pitch.
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Thanks to a heroic goal by Captain America himself, Christian Pulisic, the US men’s national team defeated Iran to advance to the knockout round of the World Cup.
But what may end up in the history books wasn’t the action on the field, but the tumultuous political currents that were swirling ahead of the match. The US and Iran are geopolitical foes whose hostility toward one another has only been ramping up recently. And Iran itself is going through its biggest political upheaval in years, which has generated controversy around its soccer team. All this resulted in one of the most politically charged World Cup games in recent memory.
Perhaps the best place to start is at a wild press conference that took place on Monday. Iranian media (some of which is state-affiliated) grilled US coach Gregg Berhalter and team captain Tyler Adams with questions that were overtly political.
- An Iranian reporter asked Adams, who is Black, whether he felt comfortable representing a country that discriminates against Black people. (Here’s how Adams responded.)
- Another reporter asked Berhalter why he hadn’t asked the US government to remove its military presence in the Persian Gulf.
This aggressive line of questioning came after the US Soccer Federation waded into Iran’s domestic political issues. Anti-government protests have exploded across the country following the death of a young woman in police custody, and US Soccer briefly posted a doctored image of the Iranian flag on social media to show support for the protests. Iran’s government was incensed, and demanded that FIFA kick the US out of the tournament.
But the Iranian government also had political activism from its own team to worry about. Last week, players refused to sing the country’s national anthem before their match with England to show solidarity with the protests. They began to sing again in subsequent matches, but according to a CNN report, Iranian officials threatened players’ families with “violence and torture” if they didn’t sing the national anthem or engaged in other protests.
The public’s anger against Iran’s leaders is so intense that many Iranians were seen actively rooting against their own soccer team, understanding that their government would use on-the-field success as propaganda to boost its power.—MM, NF
