Following the June 15, 2026, World Cup match between Iran and New Zealand, a rumor circulated claiming that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security deported Iranian player Mohammad Mohebi. The alleged reason for this deportation was a “gun gesture” he made while celebrating a goal.
This claim gained significant traction online, with one X user posting on June 16 that Mohebi had been deported back to Iran after his goal celebration. This post reportedly garnered over 4.5 million views. The rumor spread amidst discussions between Iran and the U.S. regarding a potential ceasefire and reports that U.S. officials had asked Iran’s World Cup team to leave the country. The story appeared widely on platforms like Facebook and X, with some users seemingly accepting it as fact. Several readers contacted Snopes to verify its authenticity.
An investigation using search engines like DuckDuckGo, Bing, and Yahoo did not yield any credible news reports from reputable outlets about the deportation of Mohebi or any member of the World Cup team by the DHS. While search results did mention reports of U.S. officials asking the Iranian team to return to Tijuana, Mexico, shortly after their match in Los Angeles, there was no evidence to support the deportation claim.
Mohammad Mohebi did indeed make a gesture resembling a gun with his hands after scoring in the 2-2 match against New Zealand. However, he later clarified to reporters that it was simply a celebratory gesture.
The origin of the rumor was traced to a social media account that explicitly labels its posts, including the story about Mohebi, as satirical. The X user, “Ball Zone,” who initially shared the rumor, describes their account bio as “Home of football jokes – Satire.” Furthermore, the image accompanying the popular post featuring the fictional deportation story was identified as likely AI-generated or edited, according to an analysis by OpenAI’s watermark testing tool.
As of this writing, the Iranian team is scheduled to play Belgium in Seattle on June 21.
This instance is not the first time Snopes has debunked fictional sports-related claims. For example, after the New York Knicks won the NBA championship in June 2026, Snopes addressed a fabricated story about the team supposedly refusing a White House invitation.
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