Iran defeated Kyrgyzstan 1-0 on Thursday, in the opening of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers of the Asian continent.
The winning goal was scored by Inter Milan striker Mehdi Taremi in the 34th minute.
This victory comes after, in recent months, Iranian national team players have been criticized by the Iranian people for not doing enough and speaking out against the situation in the country and the direction in which the Ayatollah regime is leading the Iranian people.
After the match, Taremi said at the press conference: "The players are not responsible for the state of the country. Those who call players 'dishonorable' are extremists. The anger must be directed at the decision-makers (Khamenei).”
Iranian Protests’ impact
This is a rare event as it is the first time an Iranian national team player in the national team uniform openly, directly criticizes the Iranian authorities and blames them for the problems in the country.
In the past, Taremi became famous for his support of Khamenei, but in recent years, and especially after the Mahsa Amini case, the forward has been identifying with the Hijab protests movement more occasionally.
Over the past years, Iranian national team players have criticized the regime indirectly, by remaining silent during the anthem as they did at the World Cup in Qatar, but when a player of Taremi's caliber, the biggest star of Iranian football, with tens of millions of followers and his influence on the younger generation, directly criticizes and accuses the regime, it is clear proof and expression of the disconnect and gaps that exist between the Iranian regime and the Iranian people, with the backdrop of the war and tension between Iran and its proxies and the State of Israel.
