Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh has vowed to unify their nation as he failed to be drawn on the national anthem boos during at the World Cup. They remain in contention to qualify for the World Cup knockout stages following Sunday’s remarkable goalless draw against Belgium, but ongoing issues away from the pitch continue to overshadow their involvement at the tournament.
Across the two matches Iran have played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium, the anthem has provoked a divided response from supporters. During their opening fixture against New Zealand, which also ended in a draw, fans delivered a mixture of jeers and cheers, with the mood shifting somewhat by the time the anthem concluded.
Against Belgium, however, the reaction was far more hostile, with a torrent of boos cascading down from the stands, appearing to intensify as the anthem played out. Following the goalless stalemate, Jahanbakhsh shed light on what he and his teammates were experiencing as the jeers rang out.
“We take both. I think there are good days, bad days for every team, and also, like I said, we play for all the Iranians in Iran, outside Iran, with whatever ideology, whatever preferences they have, and we make sure to make them happy, because I’m sure at the end of the day, they love Team Mali from the heart, and we respect them all,” Jahanbakhsh told reporters after the match.
“And I think the most important thing we can do as a team is to perform well, to make sure we put our heart on the pitch, and to do everything to make them happy.
“And for the rest, I think that’s something we have to respect people, whatever idea they have, and like I said, the best thing we can do is to play football, and hopefully we can do it in the best way possible.”
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Having secured draws against both New Zealand and Belgium, all eyes now turn to their crunch clash against Egypt. A victory for Iran in that fixture would see them progress to the Round of 32, which would be a remarkable achievement in its own right.
Despite the enormity of the opportunity before them, Jahanbakhsh and his teammates are keeping their feet firmly on the ground, with the squad keen to make the Iranian people proud, regardless of their political stance.
Iran will face Egypt on Friday, bringing the curtain down on Group G. But it is all to play for with the Pharaohs leading the standings after Mohamed Salah inspired their comeback to beat New Zealand 3-1, while Belgium take on the All Whites looking to salvage their tournament.
View 2 ImagesAlireza Jahanbakhsh and players of IR Iran line up for the national anthem(Image: Alex Livesey – FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images)
“Yeah, a hundred percent, like I said, this is, I think this is the spirit we have in the team,” he said, reflecting on Iran’s current position.
“Yeah, the situation hasn’t been the best, but like we don’t want to keep repeating that because I think everyone is aware of that. But yeah, we go game by game.
“This today was an amazing performance, but I think we cannot let down the next game against Egypt. We know how important that is. Making history, every World Cup, last World Cup, we tried to do the best thing, but very last minute we couldn’t do it.
“But now I think the most important thing is like we go to recover well to make sure that we are ready for the next game and do the same energy, same spirit to the game against Egypt and hopefully make the best performance for our people back home. We know they deserve a lot.
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“Even the people who came to the stadium today with the different ideas, different ideology, different culture from different cities in Iran coming from.
“So that’s bringing people together, the united that is. And on top of that, like I said, I think that makes us stronger and live the result to the gut.”