Why some Iranians are rooting against their team in the World Cup
In Seattle, ahead of Iran’s match against Egypt. We hear from protesters on why they’re rooting against the Iranian team in the World Cup.
MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Rúben Neves pulls down his left sock in big moments.
He did it last October against Ireland, seconds after heading in a stoppage-time winner for Portugal. He kissed the No. 21 on his shirt. He pointed to the sky. Then he pulled the sock down to show the tattoo of him and Diogo Jota etched into his calf.
Saturday night, Neves will carry that image into Miami Stadium. Portugal faces Colombia in Miami Gardens, with first place in Group K on the line. For Neves, there is more than a group standing at stake.
“More than anything, it is to be able to have him with me and with us in this World Cup,” Neves said. “Because I know that one of his great goals in his career was to participate in the championship.”
Jota died in July 2025 alongside his brother André Silva in a car accident in Spain. He was 28. Neves carried his coffin at the funeral.
The two shared 164 matches together across their careers, from their beginnings at Porto, to their years at Wolverhampton Wanderers, to the Portugal national team.
The grief has not since faded. And Neves keeps Jota close.
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“I still talk to him,” Neves said on Portuguese television program Alta Definição on SIC. “Few people know this. We have a WhatsApp group with [Jota’s wife] Rute [Cardoso] and Diogo, and it’s still there, and we continue to talk there. Whenever something special happens, I have the conversations archived on my WhatsApp so I can continue to send him messages.”
Neves now wears Jota’s No. 21 jersey.
He’s not alone in keeping Jota close at this World Cup.
Forward Francisco Trincão, who came off the bench in that emotional qualifier win over Ireland, said the presence of Jota’s memory has become fuel for the team.
“I think it’s giving us more strength, and giving us more belief that we have a strength from outside, from something different,” Trincão said. “So we have to use it for our games and to win.”
Portugal enters Saturday’s match second in Group K with four points, just behind Colombia with six. Both teams have already advanced to the round of 32. As Portugal moves forward, the team, and Neves, will carry Jota with them.
Erin Kirby is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
