Seattle [US], June 27 (ANI): Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said his team’s focus at the FIFA World Cup 2026 was only on football after being asked about the tournament’s ‘Pride Game’.
He said that while “our religion doesn’t accept that”, Iran respects the LGBT community following Team Melli’s 1-1 Group G draw against Egypt.
The last group-stage game of Iran was designated as the ‘Pride Game’ by local organisers, and some rainbow flags were visible inside the stadium.
Addressing the media after the match in Seattle, Taremi was asked about the fixture being promoted as a pride game and whether it had any impact on the Iranian team.
“Our religion doesn’t accept that, but we respect all of the LGBT people. That’s the idea, it’s not about us, we are here to play football, we respect all of those guys,” Taremi said, as per a video shared by Fars News Agency on X.
The striker also reflected on the scrutiny surrounding the Iranian team throughout the tournament and admitted external issues had affected the players.
“Yeah, we’re looking forward to our journey. We have good energy inside. But we have to talk about these things outside. We have to leave it out because we cannot always keep it to ourselves, because we are Iran, because some guys don’t like us. But we feel, no, that’s not right, I think. But we have good energy, positive energy inside our locker room, and yeah, let’s see tomorrow what’s gonna happen,” he said.
Iran finished third in Group G after drawing all three of their matches. Belgium and Egypt secured the two automatic qualification spots, while Iran remained in contention for a Round of 32 berth as one of the best third-placed teams.
The Iranians can still qualify if any one of the following results goes their way: Algeria’s match against Austria produces a winner, Ghana defeat Croatia, or Congo fail to beat Uzbekistan.
Asked whether he wished discussions centred only on football, Taremi said the team remained proud of its performances despite the distractions.
“No, we are proud, we stay, as you see we play so well, I think. 90 minutes we fight and that’s perfect, I think. Yeah, by small details we couldn’t win the game, but we stand here, we are here, we want to show ourselves, we want to bring the joy as I said to our people. But I mean small details affect the games, and this is important recovery, which is important for a clear mind. But we don’t have a clear mind here.”
The captain said reaching the knockout stage would be a landmark achievement for Iranian football, but insisted the players had already given everything.
“We are here to make our history true. You know we’re looking for it. We did everything for that. And I don’t know what I have to say anymore, but we’re just looking for tomorrow. If our dream becomes true, thank God. If not, I think we are proud of our game, our players, because of how we did the games over the last three games, we are proud of. So yeah, let’s see what’s gonna happen.”
Taremi also called for football to be insulated from political issues while responding to a question on his message to FIFA.
“FIFA is doing their best. We know they have some problem too they cannot solve. As you know, football has to be apart of politics. No? That’s what we’re looking for, that’s what the message we want to leave.”
On the pitch, Egypt secured a historic place in the World Cup knockout stage for the first time after the 1-1 draw. Mahmoud Sabre gave the Pharaohs the lead after Mohamed Salah’s effort was parried by Alireza Beiranvand, before Taremi missed an early penalty as goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir made the save.
Iran eventually levelled through Ramin Rezaeian, who was named Player of the Match, but saw a stoppage-time winner ruled out for offside following a VAR review. Shobeir then produced another crucial save to deny Saeid Ezatolahi as Egypt held on to finish second in Group G and book a Round of 32 meeting with Australia. (ANI)
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