LGBTQ+ 'Pride match' in Seattle to feature Egypt and Iran

Mehdi Taj, the President of the Iranian Football Federation, expressed his anger over the designation of his country’s 2026 World Cup match against Egypt in Seattle as a “Pride Match,” with Iranian media reporting on Tuesday that both nations have filed a protest regarding the issue.

The American host city of Seattle had made the decision to hold the June 26th match as a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community before the competing teams were revealed.

The official tournament schedule, published last Saturday, confirmed that the match scheduled for that date, which coincides with Seattle’s Pride weekend, is the Group G fixture between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalized.

Taj voiced his outrage, and Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that both Egypt and Iran have formally protested the designation. Taj described the decision as “unreasonable conduct that represents support for a specific category,” stressing the need for further discussion on the matter.

For its part, Hanna Tadesse from the Seattle World Cup organizing team told the German News Agency (DPA) that the LGBTQ+ community and culture are an integral part of Seattle’s identity, confirming that the match will coincide with Pride weekend.

Homosexual acts are forbidden in Iran and can be punishable by death in some cases. In Egypt, “morality or religion protection” crimes are often used as grounds to prosecute homosexuality.

FIFA, which was not involved in organizing the so-called Pride Match in Seattle, initially did not respond to a request for comment.

The incident follows the controversy at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar over the “OneLove” captain’s armband, which some nations intended to wear as a symbol against discrimination and in support of diversity. FIFA banned teams from wearing the armband shortly before the tournament started, threatening sporting sanctions, given that homosexuality is also illegal in Qatar.