Iran are out of the 2026 World Cup — three draws, no wins, no second round. The football was underwhelming enough on its own terms. Then a sitting US senator decided to make it a moment.
Iran came to this World Cup carrying more baggage than most nations ever will. Earlier in the year, US and Israeli air strikes on Iran had thrown their participation into genuine doubt — the question of whether they'd even board a plane to North America was live for weeks. They made it. They just couldn't win.
Three group-stage games, three draws. Not a single victory. It's the kind of exit that barely registers in the tournament's broader noise — no drama, no collapse, just a quiet accumulation of not-quite-enough. Iran leave without a goal difference to argue about, without a moment the highlights packages will return to.
US Senator Markwayne Mullin, however, was not quiet about it. According to The Guardian, Mullin publicly expressed that he was 'so happy' at Iran's elimination and suggested he may have 'sung a song or two'. A sitting US senator, on the record, celebrating the sporting exit of a geopolitical rival at a World Cup being hosted, in part, on American soil.
It's worth being clear about what this is and what it isn't. Mullin's comments are a political reaction to a football result — they don't change the group table, they don't affect Iran's players, and they aren't a football story in any traditional sense. But they are a reminder of the extraordinary context this team carried into every match.
The 2026 World Cup was always going to be politically charged — the host nation's relationship with several competing nations guaranteed that. Iran's presence was the sharpest edge of that tension. That a senator felt comfortable enough to publicly celebrate their exit, by name, in those terms, tells you something about how far outside the usual sporting bubble this tournament has already strayed.
Iran's players did nothing wrong. They drew three football matches. The world around them, as it has been for years, was considerably louder than the scorelines suggested.
Senator Mullin, for his part, did not mention the football.
Iran are out of the 2026 World Cup — three draws, no wins, no second round. The football was underwhelming enough on its own terms. Then a sitting US senator decided to make it a moment.
Bronnen
The Guardian — Football
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