Where this was said
2026: The War Seeps Into the Game
At 30:00 · chapter starts 29:20
Iran's 2026 World Cup group-stage games are in Los Angeles — practically next door to where Kevin and Farhad now live. But the context is radically different from any previous tournament. There is an actual war. There is nationalistic rhetoric and presidential statements that Kevin found 'troublesome' — Trump saying Iranian players could come but couldn't guarantee their safety. The US restricted player visas so severely that the Iranian squad was forced to stay in Tijuana and cross the border for just one day at a time. Kevin tries to separate the people from the politics, to cheer for the Iranian players as representatives of the Iranian people rather than the regime. But he acknowledges it is impossible to fully block out. He describes the feeling as 'standing over a ledge' — a huge, unresolved thing beneath him, full of unease and danger, with no clear resolution in sight.
Due to US visa restrictions, Iranian players were initially forced to stay in Tijuana and were only allowed into the US for a single day at a time.
