Iran’s soccer team took a swipe at Donald Trump after landing in Mexico for the World Cup by paying tribute to the 168 children killed in an American missile strike on one of their elementary schools.
An estimated 175 people died after the US bombed a girls’ school in the Iranian city of Minab on February 28, with an investigation later concluding that they made a mistake while launching strikes on a nearby military base which the building was once part of.
It is believed the majority of casualties were young girls, marking one of the most devastating US military errors in decades.
Amid the ongoing conflict between the two countries, America has refused to issue visas to some members of Iran’s staff for the 2026 World Cup, which gets underway this week.
Yet as the bitter diplomatic dispute continues, Iran players were able to land in Mexico at the weekend while honoring the 168 school children killed in February’s missile strike.
The entire squad were pictured disembarking from their plane with pins on their clothing bearing the number 168, risking the wrath of Trump and America.
Iran’s soccer team honored the 168 girls killed in a US missile strike after landing in Mexico for the World Cup
The bombing of a school in Minab killed 175 people, mostly children, on February 28
This summer’s tournament is being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, with the latter nation contesting the opening match against South Africa in Mexico City on Thursday.
Iran, who will be based in Mexico despite playing their entire group stage in the US, take on New Zealand in their first game on Monday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
When they do play in the US, it will be the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with.
After another trip to SoFi Stadium to face Belgium, Iran play their final group match against Egypt at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Iran’s team has spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Antalya, using their time in Turkey to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the US.
On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players received their US visas, Washington’s envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X late Friday.
But Iran’s embassy to Turkey said support staff had been denied visas – 15 administrative and management staff are concerned, an Iranian diplomat and state TV said.
The nation’s soccer federation accused the US government of ‘vindictive behavior’ in refusing visas for ‘key managerial and administrative members’ of the team.
Iran players wore pins on their clothing bearing the number 168 after landing in Mexico
Donald Trump and the US have refused to issue visas to some members of Iran’s soccer staff
‘You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,’ the embassy wrote Saturday on X, calling for world football’s governing body FIFA ‘to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules.’
Adding to the tensions, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico said Saturday the squad had been notified that, under their visa conditions, the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches.
‘We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day,’ Iran’s envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters.
That appeared to contradict what the team’s spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state TV earlier.
‘The visas issued for the national team are multiple-entry visas, and the national team will arrive at the match venue one day before the first game and, for the following games, two days prior to each match,’ Alavi said.
Iranian fans gathered outside the airport to greet the team as they made their way to their base
FIFA rules for World Cups stipulate that a team’s coach must give a news conference on the eve of the match at the venue where the game will be played.
Iran’s Football Federation – whose chief Mehdi Taj was reportedly among those denied a visa – has described the decision as ‘political interference in sport in its worst form.’
In response, a US administration official confirmed that ‘the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.’
Without directly addressing the matter of those whose visas were refused, the official added: ‘We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.’
