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By the time he wrapped his press conference in Qatar on Monday, United States men\u2019s national team coach\u00a0Gregg Berhalter<\/strong> cut the figure of an embattled head of state, not someone trying to stave off elimination from the World Cup. On the eve of a win-or-go-home match, Berhalter and team captain\u00a0Tyler Adams<\/strong> were grilled by Iranian journalists about US policy on immigration and the country\u2019s military presence in the Persian Gulf. One reporter took Adams to task with a question about discrimination in America, while Berhalter was asked whether inflation might be hindering the team\u2019s support back home.<\/p>\n Berhalter and Adams fielded some questions about the USMNT\u2019s next opponent, but tactical analysis tends to get overshadowed when that opponent is Iran. In a World Cup where it has\u00a0proven nearly impossible to stick to sports,<\/a> Tuesday\u2019s match between the United States and Iran is the most politically charged contest yet, the ultimate tempest in an unusually fraught tournament. Given the long-standing hostilities between the two countries, the match was always bound to invite geopolitical story lines, but now it is set against the backdrop of monthslong demonstrations in Iran triggered by the arrest and death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. The Iranian government\u2019s violent crackdown on its own people has cast a shadow over its national team\u2019s World Cup campaign, creating a red-hot atmosphere in Qatar for both players and fans. The United States Soccer Federation waded into the political upheaval this week when it posted a now deleted graphic on social media of the Iranian flag that did not include the emblem of the Islamic Republic, a gesture meant to show solidarity with the protesters. Iran\u2019s own soccer federation responded by calling for the US to be expelled from the World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n That set the stage for Monday\u2019s strange press conference, where Iranian journalists repeatedly confronted Berhalter and Adams, both of whom tried gamely to steer the questions back to the game itself. \u201cWe support Iran\u2019s people and Iran\u2019s team,\u201d Adams said. \u201cBut that being said, we\u2019re laser-focused on this match, as they are as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams was promptly scolded\u00a0by a reporter<\/a> from Press TV, an Iranian government-affiliated outlet, who pointed out that the 23-year-old midfielder was \u201cpronouncing our country\u2019s name wrong.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur country is named eee-ron, not I-ran,\u201d the reporter\u00a0said<\/a>, before asking Adams, who is Black, whether he is \u201cokay to be representing a country that has so much discrimination against Black people in his own borders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Adams\u00a0apologized<\/a> for the mispronunciation. \u201cThere\u2019s discrimination everywhere you go,\u201d Adams said. \u201cOne thing that I\u2019ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years, and having to fit in in different cultures is that in the US, we\u2019re continuing to make progress every single day.\u201d Adams said his experience, growing up African American in a white family, made it easier for him to assimilate in different cultures and touted the importance of education in gaining a better understanding of others.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo yeah, it\u2019s a process, I think as long as you see progress, that\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Berhalter, meanwhile, stressed that neither he nor his players were aware of the US Soccer Federation\u2019s social media post. \u201cAll we can do, on our behalf, is apologize on behalf of the players and the staff,\u201d he\u00a0said<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Iranian national team hasn\u2019t avoided the fray either, of course. Since September, the country has been roiled by protests inspired by Amini, a 22-year-old who died in Iranian police custody after being arrested for violating the country\u2019s law that requires head coverings for women. The Iranian government has been under international pressure for its brutal response to demonstrators; the United Nations estimates\u00a0more than 14,000 have been detained<\/a> for protesting, hundreds have been killed, and more are at risk of\u00a0being tortured<\/a>. Before their opening World Cup match against England last week, Iran\u2019s players staged a silent protest by not singing the country\u2019s national anthem. After\u00a0reportedly<\/a> receiving \u201cfierce criticism from government officials,\u201d the players participated in the singing of the anthem before their win on Friday against Wales, but the victory was marred by\u00a0clashes outside the stadium<\/a>\u00a0between pro-government Iranian fans and those supporting the protests. One of Iran\u2019s players\u00a0dedicated his goal against Wales<\/a> to the \u201csuffering\u201d people of Iran. Last Friday, the\u00a0Iranian government arrested<\/a> an outspoken Iranian Kurdish soccer player, who had not made the national team, on charges of \u201cincitement against the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n Even without all the political strife, Tuesday\u2019s match would hardly be short on drama. The final group stage game for both teams, it also offers plenty of enthralling sporting subplots.\u00a0With a win, the US will advance to the knockout rounds after failing to qualify for the World Cup four years ago. Iran is likewise guaranteed to go through with a victory, but a draw could also be sufficient. The United States will also be searching for its first win against Iran in what will be the third overall meeting between the two countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their first match came at the 1998 World Cup in France, where a 2\u20131 victory for the Iranians caused the US to crash out of the tournament. That game was just 17 years removed from the Iranian hostage crisis. \u201cThe Iranian regime hated America. That\u2019s why that game was such a big game on the world stage, and had so much importance. Equally as much as the football piece was the political piece,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Steve Sampson,<\/strong> who was US national team coach at the time.<\/p>\n The 1998 match was also preceded by friction between the two camps. Iran\u2019s political leadership had apparently instructed the national team to not shake hands with the US players prior to the match, as is customary at a World Cup, but tournament organizers held firm. \u201cThey said if you don\u2019t want to participate in the rules in a tournament, you\u2019re free to go home,\u201d\u00a0recalled<\/a>\u00a0Hank Steinbrecher,<\/strong> then the secretary general of US Soccer.<\/p>\n Adams and his teammates are surely less concerned about that history than the immediate implications of Tuesday\u2019s match. None of the players were alive when the US and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 1980, and few have memories of the 1998 match. \u201cI wasn\u2019t born yet,\u201d Adams said at Monday\u2019s press conference, \u201cso, don\u2019t remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n