[59661] Farewell celebrations for the national team ahead of the World Cup and popular sports in northern Iran

[59661] Farewell celebrations for the national team ahead of the World Cup and popular sports in northern Iran

Thousands of citizens participated in a festive ceremony in Tehran in honor of the national team before its departure for the 2026 World Cup, while traditional mud soccer games were held in Sari.

A mass 'Badraghe' (farewell) ceremony in Tehran

On Wednesday, May 13, 2026, a massive, well-attended ceremony was held at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran to see off the Iranian national football team on its way to the 2026 World Cup matches. According to Hamyar-e Pezeshkian, the event received an "extraordinary welcome" from the public. Akharin Khabar Varzeshi also reported on the ceremony and highlighted that international media, including Reuters, Al Jazeera, and the Russian news agency RT, covered the event as a demonstration of mass support, while noting religious slogans heard in the crowd.

Controversy over symbols in broadcast

While state media presented a unified front of support, the Telegram channel Vahid Online, associated with criticism of the establishment, reported that the Mehr News Agency chose to censor the Hezbollah flag that appeared in the video footage of the ceremony. The state news agency IRNA published official reports and photo galleries of the event without addressing the censorship issue.

The 'Foot-Shal' tradition in Mazandaran

In parallel with the national sports events, IRNA Agency published an article on a local cultural phenomenon in the Mazandaran province known as "Foot-Shal" (mud soccer). These are soccer matches held in the flooded rice fields of the Dudangeh region in Sari at the beginning of the planting season. The article highlights the simplicity of the game as a contrast to the structure of professional sports, and suggests that it holds untapped tourism and economic potential.