US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin celebrated the Iranian national team’s elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday night after a surprise group-stage elimination in what was Iran’s third World Cup under the same manager, Amir Ghalenoei.
Iran, whose World Cup participation in the first-ever North American-hosted World Cup was marred by the possibility of being banned after the February US and Israeli bombing of the nation, struggled on the field as they played all three of their Group games to a draw.
Their only hope was to beat the Egyptian national team, something that fell narrowly short due to a bizarre offside goal and a 1-1 draw.
Throughout the tournament, Iran has cried about its treatment at the hands of US government entities, with head coach Amir Ghalenoei labeling his team as “the most oppressed “ team at the tournament in what’s a long list of complaints by Iran to the soccer world, most notably to FIFA.
In a Security briefing that was held this morning at the World Cup in Atlanta, Georgia, DHS Secretary Mullin noted that he was ‘so happy that Iran is going home ‘ and later commented, “The fact that we revoked those 2 Iranian World Cup athletes visas was a great feat for Homeland Security.”
Iran, which had to move its World Cup training site to the bordering city of Tijuana, Mexico, after first considering Arizona, had to go home after every game due to their having to live and work in that facility during the tournament, as agreed with FIFA at the start of the competition by the two nations.
