Irritated Iran national team insists they are searching for 'peace, joy' and victory at World Cup

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – There were to be no questions about subjects unrelated to soccer. This was at the request of the Iran national team upon the arrival of captain Mehdi Taremi and head coach Amir Ghalenoei at the matchday-minus-1 press conference in advance of their FIFA World Cup opener Monday night against New Zealand.

Mostly, there weren’t.

And yet somehow there were answers unrelated to the sport, though certainly not to the event.

The United States had not yet gone to war with Iran when the World Cup draw was held in December in Washington and Iran was assigned three dates in the U.S., including two here in Southern California. The conflict, which has lasted 107 days and which President Donald Trump now insists has arrived at a peaceful resolution, was bound to have an impact on Iran’s experience at World Cup 2026.

That has included denial of some visas for members of the national team’s traveling party and a late switch of the team’s planned training camp from Tucson, Ariz., to Tijuana, Mexico.

“Of course, it’s not just Iran that’s been impacted. Others, including the referees,” Taremi told reporters Sunday at what FIFA is calling LA Stadium. “I’ve felt the tension from the first moment I arrived.

“At any tournament where there is tension, we don’t have the same, beautiful experience. We always talk about peace, joy … Of course we don’t have the same experience. It wasn’t just us; other countries had visa problems.

“The sensation that people always have – happily looking forward to the WC – this time, they might not have the same experience. This kind of tension undermines the joy, and it undermines the message of FIFA and our people, which is about football that brings piece. And that is how I’ve felt. I think this World Cup could have provided a better atmosphere than it has. I hope, in the future, it will be better for all fans of whatever team in the World Cup.”

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Iran insists they are searching for 'peace, joy' and victory at World Cup

There are an estimated half-million or more persons of Iranian descent living in the Los Angeles area, the largest concentration outside the country itself. Television station KTLA reported that many, as opponents of the current regime, are planning to protest at LA Stadium in advance of the game against New Zealand.

“I would like to let you know that we are here to play football,” Ghalenoei said. “We are here to represent the respectful people of Iran, be it Iranians inside Iran or the Iranian diaspora.

“I have been to the United States several times before. I’m aware of the diaspora and in LA. I’m just happy they are coming to watch us and I hope they will pray for us, they will encourage us and I hope we will repay by playing well.”

Iran’s national team arrived Sunday in Los Angeles for Monday’s game, which is standard in World Cups but was not always a given for this team in this tournament. The schedule on FIFA’s media site kept insisting there would be a news conference at 3:45 p.m. local time but the news we had been reading prior to the first ball being kicked in this tournament suggested that would be politically or physically or logistically impossible.

Andrew Giuliani, who is handling World Cup matters for the White House, told Politico allowing Iran to enter the country from Mexico a day before kickoff was a “goodwill gesture” to the Iran team, designed to assure they are able to compete on even terms.

Having to change the training camp site so close to the tournament will have an impact, though, according to Ghalenoei.

“Look, we arrived late, and we didn’t have enough time to adjust. Of course it will affect us, but Allah willing I know our players will do their utmost to show the highest quality,” he said.

“Without a doubt, this kind of behavior will impact negatively. The sport of football is supposed to bring everyone together. Football is about joy. Because of these conditions, they have impacted our focus, our technical focus, but I have really tried to make sure our players focus on strategy and technique.”

Iran is the No. 20 team in the world, behind No. 10 Belgium in Group G but ahead of No. 30 Egypt and No. 85 New Zealand. They went 7W-1L-2D in the final round of Asia’s World Cup qualifying. At the 2022 World Cup, they were eliminated by the United States on the final day of group play with a 1-0 defeat.

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“All teams present here are among the very best, whether it be New Zealand or the champion from the last, Argentina,” Ghalenoei said. “We have the utmost respect, because they have worked hard. Look at Turkey and Australia, Japan and the Netherlands – we’ve seen the results. Sometimes the unexpected happens.

“Every team is proud to be here and deserves to be here. The first game is the hardest.”

A striker with 60 goals in 105 caps, Taremi has a complicated history himself regarding the separation of soccer and politics. In 2017, he posted a tweet calling for the destruction of Israel. He subsequently deleted the post; some fans called for FIFA to ban him from the 2018 World Cup on the grounds that the organization’s bylaws forbid hate speech.

In January, he chose not to celebrate multiple goals he scored for the Olympiacos club in Greece as a protest against the killing of protesters in Iran. “I know that Olympiacos fans would like me to be happy, but I don’t celebrate the goals in solidarity with what the Iranian people are going through,” he said, according to an article in Iran International.

“We play for every Iranian,” Taremi said. “In every country, people have different opinions. We will try to unite and bring joy to all Iranians. We don’t get involved in politics. We are here to play football.”

Iran is here, and they will play.

That much, we can confirm.