A Game on the Pitch, a War Behind the Screens
As the biggest football tournament on the planet kicked off, a very different kind of danger began circling it — not bullets or bombs, but keyboards and drones. The largest FIFA World Cup 2026 in history, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, got underway on Thursday, 11 June. And it is at exactly this moment that an Iran-linked hacking group has made a claim alarming enough to keep organisers and security agencies awake at night.
The Claim: Control Over the FBI's Spy Drones
According to a report by the ‘SITE Intelligence Group’, which tracks jihadi networks and cyber outfits, a pro-Palestine, Iran-linked hacker group named ‘Handala’ has put out a chilling statement. The group says it has seized full control of the FBI's advanced ‘first-person view’ (FPV) drones, the same machines deployed for counter-terrorism operations.
The hackers allege that for several months now they have been helping themselves to the agency's sensitive material — photographs, data, and even lists of suspects. According to them, these drones are loaded with cutting-edge capabilities such as facial recognition and license plate scanning, technology the US had put in place to fight terrorism.
‘A Drone Could Land Inside Your Bus Any Time’
The most disturbing part of the threat points directly at the players. On the very day the United States men's national team (USMNT) was set to open its campaign against Paraguay, ‘Handala’ issued an open warning that it strongly dislikes some of the teams taking part. In the group's own words: tighten your security, and don't forget that FPV drones are everywhere — at any moment one of them could end up right inside your team's bus.
How Much Is Real, How Much Is Show?
That said, the claim has not gone unquestioned. ‘SITE Intelligence’ itself has flagged that some of the videos and footage released by the hackers are not genuine — they are in fact old US police clips presented in a misleading way. Even so, given how serious the threat sounds, security agencies have gone on high alert and are unwilling to dismiss any risk.
The Group That Cracked Kash Patel's Email
It would be a mistake to write ‘Handala’ off as just another amateur crew. This is the same group that, back in March 2026, broke into the personal email account of FBI Director Kash Patel, leaking his private photographs and a number of confidential documents dated between 2010 and 2019.
Sensing the danger, the US State Department has announced a reward of 10 million dollars — roughly 83 crore rupees — for anyone who can identify the group's members. The US Justice Department had already cautioned that, following the US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February 2026, Iran-backed cyber attackers were looking to inflict serious harm on America — and now the World Cup is being turned into their weapon of choice.
Trouble Off the Field, Too
The tournament's very start has been clouded by controversy and talk of security breaches. On one side, fans and journalists from several countries faced enormous trouble securing US visas. Omar Artan, regarded as Africa's number one umpire, was even turned back from Miami airport over false allegations of links to terrorists.
On the other side, during Thursday's opening match in Mexico City, violence erupted outside the stadium over the rights of workers and missing citizens, forcing police to fire tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.
Iran's Team Caught in the Crossfire of War
The ongoing confrontation with the United States has hit Iran's football team directly. The squad had to pack up its training camp in Arizona and shift it to Tijuana in Mexico. When the Iranian team faced the media on Thursday, only 12 of its 26 players showed up, and star striker Mehdi Taremi was missing as well.
Iran's ambassador has made it clear that, because of US sanctions, the Iranian team will be allowed into the United States only on match day and must leave the country the moment the game ends. Clearly, this football arena has become far more than a sporting stage — it is now a battleground for geopolitics and cyber warfare.
