Iran arrives at World Cup wearing pin for 168 schoolgirls killed in United States missile strike
The team previously commemorated the victims by raising school bags during a friendly game against Nigeria in March
The Iranian football team has arrived at the World Cup wearing pins remembering the schoolgirls killed in a US airstrike in February.
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The pins read “#168” referring to the number of children killed at an elementary school on the first day of the Iran War, February 28 2026, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.
An ongoing military investigation found that the US was responsible for the missile strike, according to the New York Times, citing US officials.
The Iran team were not wearing the badges when they departed their training camp for the World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday afternoon.
But when the team stopped to refuel in Spain, the badges were attached to their lapels and were worn by the players when they disembarked in Mexico before arriving at their team hotel.
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The badges have prompted raised eyebrows over whether the team is breaking FIFA rules, as wearing the pins outside a game setting constitutes a regulatory grey area.
According to FIFA regulations, “equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images”or players and/or the team may be reprimanded by the competition organiser or FIFA.
This rule applies to all players and officials in the technical area, meaning that if the badge were to be worn by head coach Amir Ghalenoei, he would be vulnerable to punishment.
However, “political” infringements are “less clear” to determine, and the regulations state that “slogans, statements or images” related to “any person(s), living or dead” and “any specific political act/event” are not allowed.
This is not the first time that the Iranian team has used their platform to raise awareness of the attack on the school.
Ahead of a friendly against Nigeria during the international break in March, the team held up school bags to commemorate the girls during the national anthem.
Whilst playing against Costa Rica a few days after, the team held up images of people, including children, who had died, as well as sporting and heritage infrastructure that had been damaged by the strikes.
Despite being an act of commemoration, the moves seemed to be a breach of FIFA’s rules on political displays.