Politics

Iran’s ‘disaster World Cup’ comes to a dramatic end

Published

3 months ago

June 28, 2026

Iran’s players thought they had survived twice.

First, a stoppage-time goal against Egypt on Friday was ruled out. Then, on Saturday night, they believed Algeria’s late goal had sent them into the knockout rounds — until Austria equalized with virtually the final touch of the match, eliminating Iran instead.

The cruel margins of the World Cup brought an end not only to Iran’s World Cup campaign but also to the competition’s most politically fraught storylines.

After months of wrangling over visas, cross-border travel and security arrangements while a host country and a participant were at war, Iran’s exit closes a chapter that tested whether one of the tournament’s earliest qualifiers could compete at all.

Throughout the competition, the Iranian team navigated restrictions that no other contender faced. The U.S. State Department did not extend visas to Iran’s full delegation, including government officials and support staff, and placed onerous restrictions on the team’s travel across U.S. borders that limited both their training routines and post-match physical recovery.

“Despite these difficulties, the Iranian team has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to stay focused and perform at the highest level, even under adverse circumstances,” Abolfazl Pasandideh, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, told Blue Light News. “The professionalism shown by the players and coaching staff in the face of these challenges has been paramount, and the results achieved clearly reflect that reality.”

Travel arrangements for Iran’s team — which operates under the oversight of Tehran’s regime — have bedeviled the U.S. government ever since President Donald Trump signed an executive order last June that included the country — among the first to qualify for the World Cup — on a list of 11 whose citizens were subject to restrictive bans on entry to the United States. A provision of the executive order created an exception for those competing in the World Cup, among other major sporting events in the U.S.

The restriction complicated the ability of Iranian government officials and sports administrators to travel to the United States for pre-tournament activities. After some Iranian representatives planning to travel to Washington for the World Cup lottery draw in December saw their visa applications go unproved, they were planning to skip the draw entirely until FIFA stepped in to mediate.

“We want this to be a safe and secure World Cup,” White House World Cup Task Force Director Andrew Giuliani said the following month. “So yeah, of course, we want the teams to be here and to play, but we also understand that most fan bases are going to come here to enjoy an incredible World Cup, to add to the experience. But it’d be foolish, in understanding what Iran is going through right now, to expect that we would just open our borders.”

After the U.S. and Israel began a military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28, first with the stated goal of removing the country’s governing regime, Iran’s top soccer official said his country might not send a team to the tournament, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.

“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Iranian soccer federation President Mehdi Taj told the Iranian sports outlet Varzesh3 following the strikes.

As Trump sent mixed signals about whether he would facilitate Iran’s participation, FIFA President Gianni Infantino conducted shuttle diplomacy between Washington and Tehran to avoid a boycott that could delegitimize the world’s largest sporting event. The State Department did not extend visas to Iran’s full delegation, including government officials and support staff.

Amid concerns that the U.S. could not ensure its security, the Iranian Football Federation decided to move its base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. That choice turned Iran into a commuter team, with its travel at the discretion of Trump’s Homeland Security Department, which limited the team’s players and coach to arrival within 24 hours of kickoff.

“Undoubtedly, the fact that the management and administrative staff could not accompany the team has negatively affected the players’ peace of mind and further complicated the national team’s work,” said Pasandideh.

Iranian team captain Mehdi Taremi said Friday that Infantino visited the team in its locker room and promised to “solve every problem here,” in Taremi’s recollection, but soccer’s governing body was unable to address the visa situation. FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.

The department this week relaxed the rules on timing, allowing Iran’s team to spend two nights in Seattle before playing Friday, although several players complained they were held for extended questioning upon arrival. The Iranian squad was welcomed to Seattle’s Fairmont Hotel by a group of supporters, but was forced to return to Tijuana immediately upon the match’s conclusion late Friday night.

“It’s a disaster World Cup,” Taremi told reporters after the draw against Egypt left Iran on the precipice of advancing to the knockout rounds. “We always complain about those things, but no one helps.”

Politics

Gina Hinojosa wants to make Texas a test case for Democrats’ future

Published

6 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Gina Hinojosa wants to make Texas a test case for Democrats’ future

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Politics

Trump eyes an October campaign rally — in Alabama

Published

11 hours ago

September 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump is tentatively set to visit Alabama for a political rally next week, a curious move in a deep-red state as his party fights for control of Congress in several battlegrounds.

The event is penciled in for Oct. 2 in Mobile, but the plans have not yet been finalized and are subject to change, according to two people with direct knowledge of the preparations who were granted anonymity to disclose private planning.

An October rally in Alabama would be a somewhat confounding decision for the president. The GOP has found itself having to play defense in their own territory recently, with Democratic candidates are seriously competing for Senate seats in normally red states like Alaska and Texas. But Alabama has not been considered a state where Democrats have any real shot at winning any statewide office.

Spokespeople for the White House and Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The rally could help shore up support for state Rep. Rhett Marques, who is locked in a somewhat competitive race with Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. Marques is still seen to have the advantage after the Supreme Court allowed the state to use a House map that reconfigured Figures’ majority-Black district earlier this year. Mobile, though, is outside of that district.

Marques’ campaign and Figures’ campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

A foray into Alabama would not be the first time that the president has tried to shore up support in a solidly Republican state this cycle — he rallied last month in South Carolina for Sen. Darline Graham during her primary runoff — but as the general election season has begun he has also started to visit battleground states. Last week, he rallied alongside GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley in North Carolina.

Trump’s potential campaign visit would follow Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s announcement last week that the Trump administration has granted a $2.5 billion loan to the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority. That money will fund the construction of the Mobile River Bridge — the largest infrastructure project in the state’s history. The president is also fond of GOP Rep. Barry Moore, who is running for Senate in the state. Another close ally, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, is the Republican nominee for governor. He’s running against Democratic former Sen. Doug Jones, who he unseated in 2020.

Politics

Young men are swinging away hard from Republicans, pessimistic about economy, new poll finds

Published

21 hours ago

September 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Republicans’ 2024 gains among young men have evaporated — and that could have instant ramifications this November, according to a new Cygnal poll.

President Donald Trump narrowly carried young men in 2024, according to exit polls, a big swing toward the GOP from past elections. But Democrats’ generic ballot lead among male likely voters ages 18-30 now sits at 57%-40%, according to the new survey.

Trump’s favorability is underwater at just 38%-55%, and Republicans’ net favorability among the demographic now sits at -9 points, with 40% viewing the party favorably and 49% unfavorably.

One silver lining for the GOP: Among all registered voters sampled, including those least likely to turn out in November, the Democratic generic ballot lead is much smaller, 44% to 41%.

“It is not a very good electorate, if you’re the Republican Party, among the people who are the most determined to vote,” said Alex Tarascio, pollster and principal at Cygnal, in an interview with Blue Light News ahead of the poll’s release during Thursday’s Symposium on Young American Men.

Young men alone likely won’t determine control of Congress; they make up a fraction of the electorate, and they are less likely to vote than women of the same age or their older counterparts. But that lack of enthusiasm itself is a warning sign for Republicans, who will need to motivate their base ahead of November if they wish to maintain control of Congress.

The young men sampled are overwhelmingly concerned about cost-of-living issues — the same reason that many swung toward the GOP two years ago.

When given a list of options and asked which will matter most in determining their vote in November, a wide plurality — 29% — selected “inflation and the cost of living,” and another 14% chose “housing costs and being able to afford a place to live.” When asked what policies would make the biggest difference in their lives, the top answers again deal with the economy: The most-selected options were lowering the cost of goods, lowering housing costs and cutting taxes.

Many young men feel pessimistic about their ability to achieve success. When asked if they feel the rules in this country are set up to work for or against young men, 43% said they feel the rules are set up against them to 47% who said the rules are set up in their favor.

That pessimism bleeds into how they view other institutions. Both the Democratic Party (-1) and Republican Party (-9) have net-negative favorability among the demographic, and the White House’s current occupants are even more unpopular: Vice President JD Vance sits at 37% favorability with -10 net favorability, while Trump is at 38% favorability with -17 net.

“Young men are pretty down on institutions and political figures, and this one isn’t any exception to that,” Tarascio said.

Republicans successfully targeted young men and low-propensity voters in 2024 to help propel them to victory largely in part by having Trump sit for interviews with podcast hosts and influencers popular with young men. Trump has yet to return to those forums en masse ahead of the midterms, but he’s repeatedly told voters to pretend as if he’s on the ballot in November.

But Trump may no longer be the motivator he once was for turning out young, male, low-propensity voters. Among those surveyed who were least likely to vote, Trump’s net favorability is -22, lower than the respondents most likely to vote, where his net favorability is -19.

“If Trump gets in front of them, I don’t think it’s a bad bet, but for some of these people it could backfire,” Tarascio said.

The poll was conducted Sept. 15-18 with a sample of 800 registered male voters ages 18-30. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.