Watch: Iran men's Football team join anti-hijab protests by refusing to sing national anthem ahead of FIFA World Cup 2022 game

Football fever has taken over the entire globe as the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicked off on Sunday with the opening match between Ecuador and Qatar. Ecuador ended up beating Qatar in the opening encounter by 2-0. The riveting action in the World Cup continued with the second game on Monday as Iran and England went head-to-head against each other. However, the game got marred by controversy even before the kick-off.

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Before the start of the game, Iran football players didn’t sing the national anthem in support of the country’s women-led revolution. The Iranian crowd was also heard booing their own national anthem.

Ahead of the game in Qatar, captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said the team would decide together whether or not to refuse to sing the anthem in a show of solidarity for demonstrations that have rocked the regime in Iran. The Iranian players stood impassively and grim-faced as their anthem rang out around the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.

This is what courage looks like

The Iranian football team refuses to sing the national anthem on biggest stage in the world

Eleven men, standing shoulder to shoulder, sending out a message without uttering a word#WorldCup #WorldCup2022 #Qatar2022 #Iran pic.twitter.com/n8gtQed4Fl

— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) November 21, 2022

Nationwide anti-hijab protests in Iran

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Iran has been shaken by two months of nationwide protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died three days after her arrest in Tehran over an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women, which includes the mandatory hijab headscarf.

Some Iranian athletes have chosen not to sing the national anthem or celebrate their victories in support of the protesters. Jahanbakhsh, who used to play for the English club Brighton, was angered last week by a question from a British journalist about the anthem issue.

"Every single player has a different celebration and you ask about the national anthem and that's something that also has to be decided in the team, which we already talked about. But we never made a big deal out of it, to be honest, because everybody is only thinking about football,” he said.

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The crackdown since Amini's death has left nearly 400 people dead, according to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. The state's response has led to questions over whether the team represents Iran or the regime that has ruled with an iron fist since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.