As Iran began its World Cup campaign amidst a tense political climate, a wave of misleading images and claims spread online about the team making political statements. One photo falsely claimed to show an Iranian player carrying a pink school backpack in tribute to Iranian schoolgirls killed in Minab during the US-Iran conflict. A goal celebration by Iranian forward Mohamed Mohebi was also widely interpreted online as a "threatening" gun gesture.
After kicking off its World Cup debut with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand in Los Angeles, viral posts online claimed the Iranian football team were sending political charged messages on the pitch. This included an AI-generated image of an Iranian player carrying a pink backpack, which was presented as a symbolic gesture to honour the Iranian schoolgirls killed in Minab on the first day of the US-Iran conflict. Captioned "paying tribute to the 168 girls murdered by Donald Trump", it racked up millions of views on X.
