Supporting Iran in the World Cup? It’s Complicated.

Mr. Saporito is an editor for Times Opinion who has attended seven World Cups — five men’s and two women’s — as a reporter and spectator.

In past World Cups, Iranian Americans supported Team Melli, as Iran’s team is known, practically unreservedly. The idea: Support the team, hate the regime. In the 2026 World Cup, though, both the geopolitics and the concept of fair play have become more conflicted, given that one of the hosts has been at war with one of the participants.

In the stands and at watch parties, some quarters of the Iranian American community have shifted to “The team is the........

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