Iran's national team left North America on Tuesday after a World Cup run shadowed by geopolitical friction, logistical barriers imposed by U.S. officials, and the sting of elimination in the group stage. The players departed from their World Cup base in Mexico, where they'd faced a series of constraints that the team says undermined fair competition on sport's biggest stage.
The team's exit came after three group-stage matches ended in draws, leaving Iran dependent on specific outcomes in other games. Players watched from the lobby of their Tijuana hotel as Algeria took the lead in stoppage time against Austria on Saturday, erupting in celebration at the possibility of advancing. Minutes later, Austria tied the game, leaving the room in silence. Iran's World Cup was over.
But the disappointment on the field paled beside the obstacles off it. The U.S. denied Iran's request to move its matches to Mexico entirely. It relocated the team's base camp from Arizona. It refused to grant visas to key members of Iran's staff. When Iran requested to travel to the U.S. two days before its Los Angeles matches, the U.S. rejected that too—though it did relax some restrictions for the team's final match.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended these decisions during a World Cup security briefing on Monday, claiming the U.S. had made "several accommodations" for Iran's travel and asserting that many of the people Iran wanted on its delegation were "associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard." Then he added: "I'm just glad they're done and they're not coming back," saying he "might have sung a song or two or maybe even danced a happy dance."
The Cost of Geopolitics
The Iranian team responded with a statement to The Associated Press, calling Mullin's remarks a failure to uphold international law and the basic standards expected of a World Cup host. "The fact that he openly celebrates Iran's elimination says far more about him than it does about our team," the team said. "It reflects a level of pettiness that cannot even tolerate the presence of a football team competing on the world's biggest stage."
In a separate statement, the team thanked Mexico and Tijuana for their "kindness" but described its treatment by the U.S. as a series of decisions that "undermined the sense of fairness." The team also highlighted how late decisions and logistical arrangements affected its final group match against Egypt, where a goal by Shoja Khalilzadeh was ruled offside after giving Iran the lead.
The geopolitical weight of the tournament extended to the field itself. Players wore pins with the number "168" when they first landed in Mexico, referencing the people—mostly children—killed in a deadly missile strike on an elementary school at the start of the conflict between Iran and Israel, likely launched by the U.S. In the locker room at Los Angeles Stadium, they left a note calling for peace "among all nations" and using the hashtags #168 and #minab, the school's name.
Sherry Ghaemi, an Iranian living in Los Angeles, called their stand for the young victims "honorable."
Who Bore the Burden
Members of the Iranian diaspora were divided about what it meant to support the team. Some saw it as tacit backing for Iran's theocratic government, which many oppose. Others wanted to keep politics and sports separate. Mohammad Modarres, 38, who traveled from San Diego to bid the team farewell, pushed back against the conflation: "You don't see someone screaming at Christian Pulisic for something Trump does."
For many supporters, the team's presence mattered deeply. Siavash Khosrowshahi, a 32-year-old Iranian American, drove from Los Angeles to Tijuana on Sunday, the day after elimination. "It's been really tough and stressful," he said of the months since the conflict began. There were times when he couldn't reach his parents in Tehran. But on Sunday, he called his mother from the hotel and put goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand on the phone. "It's a source of happiness for her," he said.
Kimia Ranjbar, 25, a lifelong fan who drove down from the Los Angeles area to watch the team's final hours, saw the tournament as a moment of collective hope despite the losses. "I think even though they lost, it gave people a sense of hope," Modarres said. Goalkeeper Beiranvand made seven saves to hold Belgium to a scoreless draw. Ramin Rezaeian scored off the outside of his boot to equalize against New Zealand. "They're going home not as losers, they're going home as winners," said Ghaemi.
Tijuana embraced the team throughout its visit. Fans chanted, "Irán, hermano, ya eres Mexicano!"—"Iran, brother, now you are Mexican!" Arely Ramírez, a Tijuana resident who turned up at the team's hotel hoping to meet players, said, "Iran is taking home the best of our country, and this city, which is the way in which outsiders are received."
Head coach Amir Ghalenoei said Tuesday through an interpreter before departing for the airport, "We're leaving Tijuana today, but our heart and soul stay here." Despite the disappointment, some supporters were already looking ahead. The AFC Asian Cup comes in six months. "This whole year has been bad events, bad luck after bad luck," said Ranjbar. "But the AFC Asian Cup is six months away, a new chance for Team Melli. I'll be watching them play for that."
Germany's Collapse and Questions Over Leadership
Germany's World Cup campaign ended in another early exit, with the team losing Monday to Paraguay on penalties after surviving the group stage for the first time since winning the trophy 12 years ago. The loss stung harder because Germany had been tentatively hoping for a fifth World Cup title to restore lost pride.
"We messed it up," said Germany captain Joshua Kimmich after the match in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The midfielder, who also struggled for explanations after the team's group-stage exit four years ago in Qatar, reflected on what had been lost. "As a child, when you watched the national team during tournaments, it was always semifinals, finals, or world champions. There was always lots of success. You grew up with that, cheering them on. All of us who were on the pitch should feel that, rather than looking to blame someone else. We blew it."
Coach Julian Nagelsmann came under fire for several contentious decisions. He recalled veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from international retirement just before the tournament after months of denials. The 40-year-old Neuer failed to justify his inclusion at the expense of Hoffenheim's Oliver Baumann and was arguably at fault for Ecuador's winning goal in the last group game. "I gave it my all," Neuer said.
Nagelsmann also drew criticism for not playing forward Nick Woltemade until extra time against Paraguay. Woltemade was among three players who missed in the penalty shootout. The coach had given forward Deniz Undav his first start against Paraguay, but the move did not pay off. Undav, a Kurdish Yazidi player, was unable to add to his three goals and two assists from his first two games as a substitute.
Germany played four games and won only two—against debutant Curaçao and Ivory Coast—before losses to Ecuador and Paraguay. Paraguay's victory was celebrated on the streets of Asunción and was considered a major shock. Few German fans knew any of the Paraguayan players before the match.
Nagelsmann has vowed to stay on as coach, though he was criticized for his prickly responses after the game. Germany team director Rudi Völler said, "I'm still convinced that he's probably the right one to continue. It's not only up to me."
Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the German soccer federation, said Tuesday he already met "at length" with Nagelsmann, Völler, and sporting director Andreas Rettig. They agreed "our performance at the World Cup fell short of our standards." Neuendorf said, "In the coming days, we will calmly look at the reasons why the team was unable to realize its potential and failed to meet both its own expectations and those of the German football community. After such a crushing blow, we cannot and do not wish to simply return to business as usual." Nagelsmann has a contract running through the European Championship in two years.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on social media, "What a match, @DFB_Team! You thrilled our country with your commitment and team spirit at this World Cup. We're proud of you." He was quickly mocked on X, where many users asked which match he was referring to. The words "which match" began trending. FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann wrote, "I honestly don't know which was worse. The match or this analysis."
Why This Matters:
The contrasting exits of Iran and Germany reveal how international sports competitions exist within larger structures of power and inequality. Iran's team faced explicit barriers to participation—visa denials, base camp relocations, travel restrictions—justified by geopolitical concerns rather than sports-related issues. A senior U.S. official publicly celebrated the team's elimination, treating a national sports delegation as an adversary rather than a competitor. This raises fundamental questions about whether global tournaments can function fairly when host nations use administrative power to disadvantage specific countries based on diplomatic tensions. For Iranian diaspora communities, the team's presence and dignified conduct—honoring victims of conflict while competing athletically—provided a rare moment of collective pride amid geopolitical conflict. Germany's collapse, by contrast, reflects institutional failures in decision-making and accountability within a wealthy federation with resources to prevent such outcomes. Both stories underscore how sports mirrors the inequalities and power dynamics that shape the world beyond the field.