The atmosphere was politically charged ahead of the World Cup match between Iran and New Zealand, with protests taking place before the match.
Iran’s national anthem was met with boos (Image: FIFA via Getty Images)
Iran’s national anthem drew jeers from some in the crowd at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium as the team’s unprecedented and eventful build-up for this World Cup finally ended. Iran was not even expected to appear in the finals when co-hosts the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign in February.
A peace deal may have finally been agreed on Sunday, but the development of the match only highlighted the complexities and polarization surrounding the team’s participation.
Booing could be heard inside the stadium during the national anthem, but a few minutes before that, a huge cheer erupted when footage of the team in the tunnel was shown on a giant screen above the pitch, and the team cheered loudly as the match kicked off.
The Iranian community in Los Angeles is primarily made up of people who fled the country around the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, or their children, so anti-establishment sentiment is strong here.
FIFA won a lawsuit in the early hours of Monday morning to ban flags with the pre-revolutionary “lion and sun” emblem from being brought into stadiums, but there were many flags inside the venue ahead of kick-off.
Fans inside the ground defied FIFA rules regarding pre-revolutionary Iranian flags (Image: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Protesters had promised “hell” in the build-up to the match, and aggressive anti-establishment slogans were chanted around SoFi Stadium, describing Tehran’s leaders as “terrorists”, while many at the match were keen to separate the team from the nation they represent.
Kiyan Jafari, wearing a cape and headband emblazoned with “The Lion and the Sun,” said before the match:
Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with Sky Glass ‘designed for soccer’
From £4.50
sky
Get the deal here
Sky is marking the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 20% discount on its entire range of glass TVs. Until June 17, shoppers can upgrade to a Sky smart TV ‘designed for football’ from £4.50 a month when taken with a Sky TV and Netflix package.
“This is unprecedented, we haven’t seen anything so brutal for a long time. We’ve been thinking for a long time, should we still be here today? This is still an Islamic (regime) team, but we don’t know what they put the players through.
“I want them to know that as long as they are Iranian and they support us, I still support them.”
“Unfortunately, Iranians are divided on how they feel this team represents or supports the government,” said Marian Rogers, who left Iran as a teenager in 1977 for Bedford and immigrated to the United States.
“I don’t believe in that. I believe it’s just football. I want to take the politics out of it.”
Sign up now to our Make Football Great Again newsletter and get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox!
