The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since 1979. But beyond diplomacy, the chemistry between Iran and the United States is one of enmity. The position of these two countries in the world is like two poles. In such a situation, the meeting of these two teams in the group stage of the World Cup is giving 'Maharane' a hand.
From the day the Qatar World Cup schedule was published, the match between these two countries is being discussed. Meanwhile, the ongoing political violence in Iran for the past two months, anti-government protests are giving this match a different dimension.
The Iranians are no longer at the stage where they will watch this match against the USA with great enthusiasm. The government's crackdown on women's rights has already angered the Iranian people. Many Iranian stars, poets and even sportsmen are united with this protest of the common people for women's rights. Many have been arrested for protesting against the government's repressive policies, many have been threatened.
Coming to the World Cup, in the first match against England, the footballers of the national team gave a different dimension to the whole matter by expressing solidarity with the ongoing movement without joining their voices to the national anthem. In this situation, the Iran-United States match is much more political than the fight on the field, and its scope is much wider outside the field. Ahead of the match, the US Soccer Federation's official Twitter and Instagram platforms sparked controversy. In the post about the match, the Iranian Football Federation accused of defacing the national flag of Iran. The United States, however, is silent. They are saying that this post is in solidarity with the ongoing movement in Iran. Iran is so angry about the matter that they have also appealed to FIFA to expel the United States from the World Cup.
The press conference about yesterday's match was very heated. Iranian journalists turned it into a political press conference. The Daily Mail reported that there were more questions about politics than football at the press conference. US coach Greg Barhalter and captain Tyler Adams were shocked by the attack of Iranian journalists. The more these two try to say that the match is like another ten matches for them, the more the Iranian journalists hold them down.
