Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Iran vs USA: Why is it hard to focus on just the football?

Iran vs USA: Why is it hard to focus on just the football?

The stakes for what happens after tonight’s match are very high as a win will catapult Iran into the elimination stage for the first time in history.

It is Iran versus the United States in the Qatar World Cup 2022 on Tuesday.

There’s survival at stake. But for the majority of the millions tuning in across Iran, it will be difficult to focus on just the football. The reason is not just the sour political relations between the two countries.

The two sides last met during the 1998 World Cup in France. That was the first match they played against each other since Tehran and Washington cut ties after Iran’s 1979 revolution.

But any concerns of tensions showing on the pitch dissipated after the Iranian players handed bouquets of white roses to their opponents and both sides had a group photo taken.

There were celebrations on the streets of Tehran when goals by Hamid Estili and Mehdi Mahdavikia secured a 2-1 win. That was also Iran’s first win at a World Cup match.

On Friday, Iran beat Wales in dramatic fashion. It gave the players a much-needed boost after suffering a 6-2 thrashing in their opener against England.

A win over the US would help the team move to the knockouts for the first time ever.

But the players and the management know it is not all about football.

Iran continues to be gripped by protests that began more than 70 days ago, during which more than 400 people, including more than 60 children, have been killed, according to human rights organisations.

Iranian authorities have not released official figures.



The protests began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died following her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly not adhering to a mandatory dress code.

Protests that still bear her name and the slogan “woman, life, freedom” have made their way into the World Cup as well.

Some Iranians expected Team Melli players to join other current and former athletes and use their high profile at the biggest international football theatre to express unequivocal support for the protests.

Captain Ehsan Hajisafi implicitly expressed solidarity with the protests during a news conference in Doha last week. The players refused to sing along with the national anthem ahead of the opener against England.

But their rhetoric has been focused solely on football since, and they sang the anthem ahead of the Wales match.

There were calls for street protests in Iran following the England match. But demonstrations were very limited amid a heavy presence by security forces and a severe slowdown in internet connections that came on top of significant internet restrictions that have been in place since shortly after the protests began.

After the win against Wales, there were street celebrations supported and encouraged by security forces.

The same police in riot gear that have become a familiar sight during the crackdown on protests were this time filmed waving flags, riding their motorcycles, and even playing music in the streets. State-affiliated news websites published images of cheering women without the mandatory headscarf in a big break with their policies during normal times.

And authorities continue to focus their rhetoric on the importance of using Iran’s current national flag as protesters abroad display flags used before the revolution during demonstrations in a show of defiance.

Iran on Monday lodged a complaint to FIFA over the removal of the word “Allah” from the Islamic Republic’s flag on social media posts by the US, which the latter admitted came as a show of support for the protests.

Meanwhile, Iran’s top officials continue to publicly accuse the US of being the main driving force behind “riots” and “terrorism” in the country, something Washington has denied.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×