The dark reason Iran’s World Cup team all wear pins with the number 168 on

The 2026 World Cup has seen 48 teams fly to North America, with Iran’s national team landing in Mexico bearing pins with 168 on them.

The Iran team touched down in Tijuana, Mexico, on June 7, with their first match being earlier this week against New Zealand. Today, they’re playing Belgium.

Though Iran has been able to compete in the World Cup amidst the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the US has imposed strict travel restrictions on all its players. One of those rules is being based in Mexico, with the team forced to fly in and out before and after games. Just earlier this week, Iran shared their intention to lodge a complaint about the travel restrictions.

“The football federation of Iran believes that such restrictions are inconsistent with the principle of providing equal conditions for all participating teams and may negatively affect teams’ preparation processes,” the federation said.

“Consequently, the federation will formally express its dissatisfaction and lodge an official complaint with Fifa through the appropriate channels. Despite these limitations, Iran’s national team will continue its preparation programme and remain fully focused on its upcoming match against Belgium.”

Credit: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Why do Iran’s team wear 168 pins at the World Cup?

People first spotted the 168 pins when Iran landed in Mexico for the World Cup. The simple design depicts “#168” in gold numbering.

But the meaning itself is far from simple; it refers to the victims of a school strike in Minab. Most of the victims were kids, and the February 2026 attack is widely attributed to the US.

Neither the United States nor Israel has taken responsibility for the attack, but Donald Trump’s administration has said it’s investigating.

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Iran arrives at World Cup wearing pins of 168 schoolgirls killed by the United States pic.twitter.com/9XJPZ6Toim

— LPC (@landpalestine) June 9, 2026

Earlier, the same football team commemorated the loss at a warm-up match in March. During the ceremony, the players held up pink and purple school backpacks as the national anthem played.

JUST IN: IRAN’S WORLD CUP TEAM ARRIVED IN MEXICO WEARING PINS WITH THE NUMBER 168 REMEMBERING THE 168 SCHOOL CHILDREN KlLLED BY US STRIKE pic.twitter.com/x2NwOYevWr

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) June 8, 2026

People have since questioned whether the 168 pins are breaking the World Cup rules, as FIFA states, “equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images.”

No sanctions have been imposed as of yet, but as you can imagine, the pins have been met with a lot of vitriol from the American right.

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Featured image credit: DiaEsportivo/Shutterstock and Xinhua/Shutterstock