Iran has had an arduous World Cup journey, arguably the most difficult of the tournament. Its opponents on the pitch have had little to do with the challenges. Rather, it's been the circumstances off it.

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Team Melli played their World Cup games in a country bombing their homeland, commuted from Mexico for every match, had goals disallowed by VAR and were asked about war at every press conference. They went home unbeaten.

Iran's football coach revealed that the team were told to ‘leave the US immediately’ after the game against New Zealand.

Mahdi Mohammad Nabi is among 15 Iranian federation members denied a visa to travel to the US. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.