Pride Match Goes Ahead as Iran and Egypt Meet at the World Cup

Egypt and Iran met in the third group-stage match at the World Cup on Saturday morning, after Egypt had already clinched a historic place in the knockout round thanks to results elsewhere in the group. The game’s main storyline was the FIFA-designated “Pride Match,” held in Seattle because the city is home to one of the largest LGBTQ communities in the United States.

The matchup carried strong symbolic weight because both countries are Muslim-majority states with severe restrictions on homosexuality. In Iran, same-sex relations are punishable by death, while they are also illegal in Egypt. Even so, after a legal battle, many fans were allowed to enter the stadium with Pride flags and display them in the stands.

At the same time, many Iranian supporters again brought the sun-and-lion flag, the national flag used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in protest against the current regime. That has become a recurring sight at Iran’s matches in this tournament.

Both Egypt and Iran had asked FIFA to ban Pride flags and to change the match’s designation. FIFA rejected those demands, saying the World Cup “welcomes people of all kinds, of all genders and all sexual identities.”