The United States crashed out of its own World Cup in humiliating fashion on Tuesday morning, losing 4-1 to Belgium – a defeat that prompted Iran to declare “the whole world is dancing” as a final blow to Donald Trump’s America.
The Iran Football Federation issued the statement moments after the final whistle, directly responding to US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin who had earlier revelled in Iran’s group-stage elimination. Mullin said he did a “happy dance” and “sang a song or two” when Iran were knocked out.
“Iran celebrates USA's World Cup exit with a statement taunting Donald Trump after 4-1 loss to Belgium.”
Iran had just been eliminated from the tournament despite drawing all three group matches. The team claimed they were poorly treated by US authorities: their planned base camp in Arizona was moved to Mexico, they were only allowed to enter the US one day before fixtures and had to leave hours after, and 11 staff members including federation president Mehdi Taj were denied visas.
The Iranian federation had already hit back at Mullin ahead of the US match, saying: “Iranians are used to the mistreatment and lies of US officials, so no one in Iran is surprised by these hostile remarks.”
Now, with the US out, Iran’s spokesperson said: “Now the whole world is dancing to celebrate politics’ humiliating defeat by football.”
The US team, meanwhile, were thoroughly outplayed by Belgium. There was also pre-match controversy as Belgium complained that US forward Folarin Balogun was allowed to play despite a red-card ban originally handed down by FIFA, while the Belgian manager had formed a view on Balogun after the striker approached him directly.
The defeat marks a bitter end to the US’s home World Cup campaign, while Iran – long gone from the tournament – took the final word.