Iranian players honor the victims of the Minab school attack ahead of the 2026 World Cup warm-up match

Players held small backpacks as Iran’s national football team honored the victims of a deadly rocket attack on a primary school ahead of its international friendly against Nigeria on Friday.

More than 165 people were killed, most of them children, when a February 28 strike, likely launched by the United States of America (US), hit the school in Minab, Iran oaYsz.

Neither the US nor Israel have accepted responsibility for the attack, which has come under fierce criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups. The US military is investigating and has said it would never attack civilians.

During the national anthem on Friday, the Iranian team honored the memory of the murdered children by placing small pink and purple school backpacks in front of them.

Video of the ceremony also showed the players wearing black armbands in memory of those killed since the war began.

The match was played in Antalya, southern Turkey.

Nigeria won 2-1 in a match that was part of the World Cup preparations in Iran, before the tournament was co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Iran is scheduled to play three group stage matches in the US in June. Iran’s ambassador to Mexico City has said the country asked FIFA to move those three matches to Mexico after US President Donald Trump discouraged the team from attending, citing security concerns.

The Iranian government and football officials have said they do not want to boycott the World Cup, but it is not possible for the national team to go to the US due to military attacks on Iran by Israel and the US.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has tempered Iran’s attempts to move its matches, saying world football’s governing body wants the tournament to «go ahead as planned.»

Published on March 28, 2026