Why Iran footballers were wearing #168 badges during travel to FIFA World Cup
This is not the first time that the Iran team has raised symbols referencing the US-Iran war. Before a friendly match against Nigeria in March this year, Iran's players had held up school bags
Iran's Alireza Jahanbakhsh smiles as he arrives with his teammates for the World Cup soccer tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo)
After a lengthy journey, when the Iran football team landed in Mexico’s Tijuana, little lapel badges — bearing the word ‘#168’ — that the players wore on their suits stood out. For, the hashtag commemorated the number of children killed at an elementary school on the first day of the US-Iran conflict, as per the Iranian foreign ministry.
While FIFA has strict rules about political displays, wearing the #168 pin badge outside of a game setting is in a grey area. FIFA rules stipulate that “equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images” or players and/or the team may be sanctioned by the competition organiser or FIFA.
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According to a report on The Athletic, the Iran players were not sporting the badges when they left their pre-World Cup training camp in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday afternoon. The team’s plane had a refuelling stop in Spain.
This is not the first time that the Iran team has raised symbols referencing the US-Iran war. Before a friendly match against Nigeria in March this year, Iran’s players had raised school bags as a symbol of commemoration during the national anthem. In the same window of friendlies, before a game against Costa Rica, Iran team held up images of children and civilians killed, as well as heritage infrastructure damaged during bombing raids. FIFA president Gianni Infantino was attending that game.
Since USA and Iran are still in a state of war, only the players and select members of the coaching staff have been given visas. Media reports from the USA stated that two analysts, executives and media officials were among the 13 members of the Iran contingent who had not been given visas.
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Iran will play all their group stage games in the USA.
According to reporting from The New York Times, an ongoing military investigation in the US had found that the US was responsible for the deadly missile strike that killed 168 children. However, US President Donald Trump or his government are yet to confirm that report.
Iran's Alireza Jahanbakhsh smiles as he arrives with his teammates for the World Cup soccer tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo) 
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