Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh breaks silence on World Cup national anthem boos | Football | Sport

Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh wants the World Cup to bring their people together as he discussed the booing of the national anthem during their opening two Group Stage matches. They remain in the hunt for a place in the knockout rounds following Sunday’s extraordinary goalless stalemate with Belgium, yet continuing controversies off the field persist in casting a shadow over their tournament participation.

Throughout Iran’s two fixtures at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium, the anthem has elicited a sharply divided reaction from the crowd. During their opening encounter with New Zealand, which also finished goalless, supporters delivered a mixed response of jeers and applause, with the atmosphere appearing to soften somewhat as the anthem drew to a close. Against Belgium, by contrast, the response proved far more antagonistic, with waves of boos echoing around the stadium, seemingly growing louder as the anthem continued.

After the scoreless encounter, Jahanbakhsh offered insight into what he and his colleagues were feeling as the jeers reverberated. He said: “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.

“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.”

Having claimed draws against both New Zealand and Belgium, attention now shifts to their decisive encounter with Egypt. Victory for Iran in that match would see them advance to the Round of 32 — a remarkable accomplishment in itself. Despite the magnitude of what lies ahead, Jahanbakhsh and his colleagues are maintaining a grounded approach, with the squad determined to do the Iranian people proud, irrespective of their political views.

Iran face Egypt on Friday, concluding proceedings in Group G. Yet everything remains up for grabs, with the Pharaohs sitting top of the table following Mohamed Salah‘s inspired performance in their 3-1 comeback triumph over New Zealand, while Belgium meet the All Whites seeking to rescue their campaign.

“Yeah, a hundred percent, like I said, this is, I think this is the spirit we have in the team,” he remarked, reflecting on Iran’s present circumstances. “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. 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.”