Iran players sing national anthem before World Cup match vs. USA

The contentious build-up to the USMNT’s pivotal World Cup 2022 matchup against Iran went without a new controversy.

Most Iranian players sang along as their country’s national anthem played, while others remained stoic.

Prior to the win-or-go-home game (which the Americans need to win to advance to the knockout round), the Iranian government reportedly threatened players and their families if they made any demonstrations in the lead-up to kickoff, according to CNN. The players were told to “behave” and warned of potential imprisonment.

Before their World Cup-opening game against England, the Iranian players notably stood silently without singing along as the national anthem played. Instead, they stared defiantly with their arms around each other’s shoulders.

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Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests since Mahsa Amini’s death in September. The 22-year-old died while in police custody after being arrested for improperly wearing a hijab, which violates the country’s dress code for women. At least 326 people have been killed in the protests, according to Human Rights NGO.

Following their loss to England, Iranian captain Ehsan Hajsafi said the team “supports” the protestors.

“We have to accept that the conditions in our country are not right and our people are not happy,” Hajsafi told reporters, and added that families of the victims “should know that we are with them, we support them and we sympathize with them.”

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Players were forced to meet with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps after the demonstration against England, according to CNN’s report. It is unclear if that is when they were allegedly threatened about their match against the United States.

Over the weekend, tensions escalated after the USMNT posted a graphic on its social media channels containing the Iranian flag without Islamic Republic emblem. After the Iranian federation planned to complain, however, the USMNT deleted the posts and explained it was meant to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.”

In the build-up to Tuesday’s pivotal matchup, Iranian reporters peppered USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter and captain Tyler Adams with political questions about governmental relations between the two nations. They were asked about a U.S. Navy vessel in the Persian Gulf Coast, immigration and racial equality in America. Adams was also told he was mispronouncing Iran.

“My apologies on the mispronunciation of your country,” Adams responded. “That being said, there’s discrimination everywhere you go. One thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilating to different cultures, is that in the U.S. we’re continuing to make progress every single day.”