Football is getting political as the Iranians follow their team at the World Cup | World Cup 2026 news

Los Angeles – “I’m sure if we score a goal today, everyone will be happy.”

This was the prediction of Iranian fan Parsa Tafreshi, who traveled from New York to Los Angeles to watch Iran participate. new Zealand on Monday.

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His words will be absolutely true.

The match ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw, and every time Iran – known as Team Melli – scored, the stadium erupted in wild celebrations.

There were two opposing groups of Iranian flags in Los Angeles, at the elder’s house Iranian-Americans are the most vocal opposition to the regime in Tehran.

Some fans raised the flag of the Islamic Republic, decorated with the name of God. Others chose the 1979 revolutionary flag with a lion and sun, used by Iranian opposition.

But when Team Melli made an attack, their supporters sang together.

Chants of “Iran, Iran” rang out throughout the stadium, and the fans breathed a collective sigh of relief every time the Iranian attackers came close to a New Zealand goal.

Concerns about chaos in the game did not appear. The Iranian fans outnumbered their New Zealand counterparts at the stadium, and the match ended without much incident.

A show against the team

A small group of protesters had gathered outside placewaving Israeli flags and chanting in support of opposition leader Reza Pahlavi.

He also asked the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to start a war with Iran again, even though Washington and Tehran have already arrived. an armistice agreement.

“President Trump, finish the job,” he chanted.

Demonstrators also shouted slogans against the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.

One of the demonstrators carried a sign with the faces of Team Melli players with red crosses.

“IRGC Team,” it said, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with red ink resembling blood dripping from the letters.

Protester Kourosh Kiumarssi told Al Jazeera that the Iranian group is a “state group”.

When asked about the Israeli flags at the demonstration, he said: “Israel and the USA attacked the government and helped the Iranian people. They are not at war with Iran, they are at war with the Islamic Republic.”

Although the voices of the protestors were strong, they were small and weak.

“I like that all the hype was outside the stadium,” said Sudi Farokhnia, who wore a green, white and red wig and a shirt with a lion and sun flag.

“When you entered the stadium, all you heard was Iran, Iran, Iran. The energy was amazing. The people were amazing,” he told Al Jazeera after the match.

But this does not mean that the whole story was political.

It would be hard to argue that the flag before the revolution is not a political statement.

FIFA bans political symbols at international matches, but thousands of Iranian fans on Monday were able to turn up with lion and sun flags, shirts and hats.

Many also wore the words “Make Iran Great Again” and “Free Iran”.

FIFA did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Minab message

There was also some political overtones in the game.

Arash, an Iranian fan who asked to be identified by his first name, wore a shirt that said “Mibab 168” on the back.

The US-Israel war against Iran has killed hundreds of civilians, including 168 children in a school for girls in the southern city of Minab, on the first day of the war.

“This is not a political shirt. This is not just sending a political message,” Arash told Al Jazeera.

“It’s a simple, simple statement: Schools are sanctuaries, whether it’s a school shooting, a bombing.

Inside the stadium, a group of Iranian fans also revealed the message “MINAB 168” during the game.

There were also Palestinian and Israeli flags visible on the stairs.

The game started with a political message: Many fans booed the Iranian national anthem, which critics see as representative of the regime.

Iran’s participation in the tournament was in jeopardy earlier this year due to the war. Team Melli they were forced to stay in Mexico as their camp, while all their team games were in the US, because the Trump administration refused to host them.

As soon as the ball was kicked, however, everything faded into the background.

It was 11 against 11. And the ball gave joy, happiness and frustration.

Iran dropped two valuable points against the bottom team, but twice came from behind and hit the woodwork once.

And both times the net grew, those goals brought joy to a country with two flags at home and abroad that has gone through war and serious problems.

There were several protesters outside.

But when Iran struck, almost all Iranians cheered.