Iran v United States (2022 FIFA World Cup)

2022 FIFA World Cup
Group B

Event	2022 FIFA World Cup Group B
Iran United States
Date	29 November 2022
Venue	Al Thumama Stadium, Doha
Referee	Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Attendance	tbd

Iran v United States, scheduled for 29 November 2022, will be a football match between Iran and the United States in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Their previous match in the 1998 FIFA World Cup was described as the "mother of all games," the "most politically charged game in World Cup history". and for Iran, the "game of the century."

It is similar in 2022: "Geopolitical tensions and questions of human rights violations and protests in Iran will loom large when the Iranian and U.S. soccer teams face off... in one of the most anticipated games — and biggest spectacles — of the World Cup."

"This is no longer about which team advances in the World Cup. Instead it’s a geopolitical propaganda battle playing out in soccer. The government of Iran desperately wants the team to beat the United States to shame their western enemies... No matter what happens Tuesday, the stakes and emotions will be higher than any group stage match in recent memory."

The 1998 match was in the second round of the group stage, while the present match is in the last third round of the group stage. Iran needs a draw to advance (provided Wales does not win), while the US must win to advance.

Background

Main article: United States v Iran (1998 FIFA World Cup)

Preparation

In 1998, the defeat by Iran eliminated the US already in the second round. Iran failed to advance too, outperformed by stronger Germany and Yugoslavia. This time it is all different, all is up to each team in their last group match against each other. The USA coach Gregg Berhalter described Iran game as the “first knockout game” of the Qatar World Cup.

"Relations between the two countries had been hostile for two decades," states the BBC 4 prelude to its film about the 1998 match. By the next match in 2022, the hostile relations count the fifth decade. The match comes the week the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on Tehran and expressed support for the Iranian protesters. Iran alleges that the protests have been fomented by its enemies abroad, headed by the U.S. "The political divide is still there – and if anything, it’s more entrenched."

The U.S. soccer federation displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying it supports protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations’ World Cup match. The federation said it has decided to forego the official flag on social media accounts to show ‘support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.’ The Twitter account of the U.S. men’s team displayed a banner with the squad’s matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The same could be seen in a post on its Facebook and Instagram accounts laying out the point totals so far in its group.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations and its soccer federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As comments raged online, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency described the U.S. federation as “removing the symbol of Allah” from the Iranian flag. The next day, Iran state media reported that the United States should be immediately kicked out of the tournament and suspended for 10 games for a “distorted image” of the country’s flag. The US "backed down" and returned the emblem to the flag.

The pre-match press conference went political. Counter-attacking human-rights accusations, the Iranians grilled Berhalter and US captain Tyler Adams about racism, school-shooting, US immigration policy, US Navy around Iran and the American spelling of "Iran." Berhalter was pressed as to “why he hasn’t asked US government to remove a Naval ship from around Iran.” Adams, who is Afro-American, was asked how it feels to represent a racist country. His and Berhalter's attempts to keep the focus on football failed. "In a surreal scene," the "last thing the Iranian press corps wanted to discuss was a soccer match."The two were also asked what percentage of the world would be happy if Iran wins, and what percentage of the world would be happy if the United States wins. They avoided estimation, as both came to the conference without calculators. "In the lead up to the game there is virtually no focus on soccer. This has become a global political battle playing out on sports’ brightest stage, and it’s a total mess — regardless of what happens on" the day of the match.

After holding England to a goalless draw in the second game, Berhalter faced "tricky" questions about the game against Iran. He clarified that the game would be ‘hotly contested, but not because of relations between our countries’.

This approach is wrong, according to Steve Sampson, the U.S. coach back in 1998. Sampson says he’s spent a lot of time over the past 24 years thinking about what he would have done differently going into that Iran game. “We were asked by FIFA, by U.S. Soccer, by the organizing committee in France, to make it about football, and not about politics. And I went along with that,” says Sampson. “In hindsight, I would have made it about politics. A coach’s job is to use any and every tool available to him to prepare his team.” If Sampson could do it again, he would have leaned into the geopolitical rivalry—just as the Iranians did. “So many Americans have been hurt so dramatically by the Iranian regime,” says Sampson. “We could have played for them.”

After the 1998 victory, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was exultant: “This unique struggle is what has given victory and glory to our nation in the course of the revolution, throughout the years of holy defense, and in all of the Iranian nation’s conflicts with the Great Satan." Despite his separation between sport and politics, Berhalter confessed: Iran is going to bring "intensity."

The forthcoming game offers the US an opportunity for a monumental revenge. US captain Tyler Adams passionately urged his players to show the mental strength needed to produce a historic victory in their all-or-nothing showdown with Iran, a clash that will decide the squad’s World Cup fate.

Security for the forthcoming match is expected to increase several times. In the 1998 precedent, by the time of kick-off, security was ramped up “10-fold,” according to Sampson. A FIFA official said there were 150 armed police officers—”unprecedented for a World Cup match”—on duty. More security forces could be seen at Iran’s last match against Wales.

See also

• Iran–United States relations

References

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