- Record-breaking Root, Brook both pass 200 as England pile up 658-3
- Football mourns Greek defender George Baldock's shock death at 31
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
- Home is far away for Madagascar in AFCON qualifying
- Two months on, Donbas soldiers begin to question Kursk offensive
- Rugby Australia to counter-sue in dispute with Melbourne Rebels
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
USA and Iran renew World Cup rivalry with geopolitical backdrop
The United States and Iran go into the World Cup with political and football grudges that their coaches, Gregg Berhalter and Dragan Skocic, are keen to defuse before the teams meet in November.
They will meet in Group B at the World Cup in Qatar, and also play England and potentially Ukraine in what could be the first-round matches that draw most of the spotlight.
The United States has been a diplomatic arch-rival of Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979. On the pitch, Iran famously beat the Americans at the 1998 World Cup when the two sides exchanged roses before the game.
Berhalter does not believe that bouquets will be seen this time. Nor does he want to talk about the politics.
"It was a nice gesture at the time, but everyone has moved on. Iran is focused on doing a good job at the World Cup and we are focused on the same thing," he said after the groups were drawn in Doha.
Berhalter did not play but remembers the defeat in Lyon in 1998 that booted the United States out of the tournament.
Brian McBride, who scored the US goal, is now the national team's general manager. Mehdi Mahdavikia, who scored Iran's second goal, is on the Iran coaching staff.
"It was a match where I don't think we performed well and we ended up losing," said Berhalter, who played 44 games for the US side and became national coach in 2018.
- Political football -
"I give Iran a lot of credit for their spirit and how they performed in that game."
But he added that "football transcends a lot of the political stuff.
"That's history, that was 24 years ago and for us it is about what comes next."
Skocic took a similar view of the hostilities that continue with US efforts to constrain Iran's nuclear programme.
"I don't care about this. Of course there is a story, but we are focused on the playing," said Iran's Croatian coach.
The United States also has a longstanding World Cup history with England.
They beat England in 1950 in one of the biggest shocks the tournament has known and drew 1-1 with them in their first game at the 2010 World Cup.
England coach Gareth Southgate said he met Berhalter only a few weeks back for a long football talk so the two were "smiling" when they were drawn together. The England-US match would be "intriguing", he said, alongside the possibility of meeting a qualifier between Ukraine, Scotland or Wales.
Berhalter again sought to avoid the emotion, insisting that there was a lot of respect for Southgate's side.
"It will the second game in the group," said the man who played one season for Crystal Palace in England's second tier.
"Our aim is to get through the group, so we will have to see how the first game goes for both teams."
The World Cup would produce "some great matchups but also some great possibilities.
"We have a young team, probably the youngest team in the World Cup and we are looking forward to getting started."
A.Malone--AMWN