Asian Cup 2026: Iran Women’s Football Team Refuse To Sing National Anthem In Protest Amidst War With US, Israel

Hyderabad: The Iranian women’s national soccer team made a silent protest during their opening match of the women’s Asia Cup as they refused to sing the national anthem before the start of the match against South Korea. The national anthem was played over the speakers in the match hosted by Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast. Before their match, none of the Iranian players or even the head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, sang the national anthem while it was played.

The silent protest from the players came after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in Israeli and US air strikes, according to a report by news agency IANS.

During questioning by the media on Sunday, Iran captain Zahra Ghanbari was questioned about Khamenei's death. According to the report by ESPNcricinfo, an AFC media representative cut off her response without any translation.

South Korea won the match by 3-0 as Choe Yu-ri's first-half strike, followed by Kim Hye-ri and Ko Yoo-jin after the break, helped the team seal the win.

Although the team suffered a defeat, coach Jafari was satisfied with the efforts of the team.

“We knew that we would have a tough game ahead as Korea is one of the toughest teams in Asia. They played very well, so I congratulate them, and I hope we can come back to the competition powerfully,” she said after the match.

“We had a strategy for the second half, and we put pressure (on them); we transitioned from defensive to offensive (tactics). We had an individual error for the penalty, and also the set-piece (goal conceded) was one of our players' faults. But I think the team performance was very good.”

Iran has played three matches in the tournament, playing a draw in one while losing two matches. Also, in their tournament opener in 2026 they suffered a defeat against South Korea.