Fans will likely be allowed to bring rainbow flags when Egypt face Iran in Seattle’s designated “Pride Match” on the World Cup, FIFA said on Thursday, organising a clumsy collision between local celebrations and two nations where homosexuality is criminalized.
Friday’s group game falls on Seattle’s Pride weekend, a scheduling quirk that emerged only after December’s draw pitted the 2 Muslim-majority countries against one another.
Egypt and Iran objected after the draw, with Egypt’s Football Association saying such events clashed with its cultural and non secular values. Each countries impose severe penalties on LGBTQ people.
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“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds. Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events,” FIFA said in an announcement.
“General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026 Stadium Code of Conduct and should be displayed inside stadiums.”
FIFA added that items will likely be allowed provided they’re used “in a fashion consistent with the code,” which limits the scale of flags or banners and prohibits items deemed “political.”
‘Pride Match’ organized by Seattle, not FIFA
FIFA has distanced itself from the Pride festivities, emphasizing that the celebrations are organized by Seattle’s local World Cup committee and never the worldwide soccer body.
“I need to make clear that there will likely be no ‘Pride Match’ on the World Cup,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche in January.
Participants carry a rainbow flag along a street in the course of the Pride parade in Montreal, Sunday, August 10, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
“There will likely be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle and, on the identical day, events organized by external organizations will likely be going down in the town. But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
On the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA threatened yellow cards for captains wearing the “OneLove” armband, citing its rules against political slogans.
Seattle organizers remain undeterred, viewing the highlight as a platform for promoting acceptance.
“The Pride celebration… has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, told Reuters.
“It will occur this weekend, it will occur long after the World Cup.”