By Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes and Patrick Sung, CNN
From CNN's Zayn Nabbi in London and Don Riddell in Doha
Iran's players did not sing their national anthem before their opening game of the World Cup in Qatar against England on Monday.
Defender Ehsan Hajsafi became on Sunday the first member of Iran’s national team to speak out from the World Cup in Qatar in apparent support of anti-government protests at home, saying players should be the voice of those suffering.
The match between Iran and England has begun. Not a single Iranian player sang the national anthem.
From CNN's Ben Church
While off-field topics continue to dominate the headlines, many supporters in Doha, Qatar, are looking forward to watching some soccer.
Both sets of fans mingle on the Metro as they make their way to the Khalifa International Stadium where England will play Iran.
With both nations wearing either red or white shirts, it's not immediately obvious who is supporting who as excitement builds ahead of the second match of the tournament.
Supporters pose for pictures together and chant their national songs in tandem as the carriages get increasingly packed at every stop.
Let's see who'll still be singing full-time.
From CNN's George Ramsay and Zayn Nabbi
The captains of several European teams will not to wear “OneLove” armbands at the World Cup in Qatar due to the danger of receiving yellow cards.
England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Wales were set to participate in the “OneLove” campaign to promote inclusion and oppose discrimination.
But those countries’ associations said in a statement on Monday that the armband – which features a striped heart in different colors to represent all heritages, backgrounds, genders and sexual identities – would not be worn in Qatar.
“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play,” the joint statement read. “As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games.”
The decision not to showcase the armband in Qatar came hours before England’s opening game against Iran, while Wales faces the US and the Netherlands faces Senegal later on Monday.
In the buildup to the World Cup, Qatar – where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison – has come under criticism for its stance on LGBTQ rights. However, the country has repeatedly insisted that “everyone is welcome” at the tournament.
It's the second day of the 2022 World Cup, and England is playing against Iran soon.
Here's the English squad:
Manager: Gareth Southgate
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ben White
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice
Forwards: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Callum Wilson
And for Iran:
Manager: Carlos Queiroz
Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand, Amir Abedzadeh, Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand
Defenders: Majid Hosseini, Hossein Kananizadehgan, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Morteza Pouraliganji, Sadegh Moharrami, Ramin Rezaeian, Milad Mohammadi, Abolfazl Jalali
Midfielders: Ehsan Hajsafi, Saeed Ezatolahi, Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Ali Karimi, Saman Ghoddos, Ahmad Noorollahi, Vahid Amiri
Forwards: Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Ali Gholizadeh, Mehdi Taremi, Mahdi Torabi, Karim Ansarifard, Sardar Azmoun
From CNN's Mostafa Salem
Iran’s record international goalscorer Ali Daei declined an invitation to attend the World Cup in Qatar to stand in solidarity with Iranian protesters.
Iran was playing its opening match Monday against England.
“I rejected the official invitation of FIFA and Qatar Football Federation to attend the World Cup with my wife and daughters,” he wrote last week on Instagram.
“I prefer to be next to you in my homeland and express my sympathy with all the families who lost loved ones over these days,” added Daei.
The 53-year-old Iranian football legend scored 109 goals for Iran between 1993 and 2006, a record broken by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo last year.
Daei has been a vocal supporter of the nationwide protests across Iran, which broke out when 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini died in September after getting detained by Iran’s morality police.
