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EPISODE · Jun 22, 2026 · 9 MIN

World Cup firsts for Iran and Uzbekistan

from State of the World from NPR

Now that World Cup games have taken over nearly every television around the globe, today we bring you two stories of World Cup firsts in this year’s tournament. Uzbekistan is the first Central Asian country to appear in the tournament, and we go there to find that their achievement is not an accident and may be a sign of bigger changes underway. And Iran is the first team to play in a host country it is at war with, but while their games are in the U.S., they are being forced to stay and train in Tijuana, Mexico. We go to that city to hear how Mexicans feel about the arrangement.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

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