When it became clear that Iran’s first World Cup match would be played in Los Angeles, FIFA had reason to be pleased. The city is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, with roughly 300,000 people in Los Angeles itself and another 200,000 across Southern California. Many jokingly call the area “Tehrangeles.”
The hope was that even though Iranian citizens were barred from entering the United States six months ago, the established and affluent Iranian community in Los Angeles, one that could afford World Cup ticket prices, would fill SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
But when Iran takes the field tonight for its Group G opener against New Zealand, its players may face a very different reality: a crowd that jeers the team wearing the flag of the Islamic Republic on its shirts.
That is only one of the problems facing Iran, which is playing in its fourth consecutive World Cup. A bigger one is that the team cannot even train in the United States. The Iranian soccer federation had booked hotels and training facilities in Tucson, Arizona, but the Trump administration refused to approve an extended U.S. stay for the Iranian delegation. As a result, the team was forced to move its base to Tijuana, Mexico. Its U.S. entry permits are limited to the matches themselves, and the delegation must leave immediately afterward.
In Tijuana, in northwestern Mexico, Iran’s training camp is being held under extraordinary military security. Training times are kept secret, and there is no spokesperson or point of contact providing information. Mexican league teams hate playing in Tijuana, a city with a reputation as a rough, wild-west border town. Until recently, the stadium there had a poor synthetic playing surface, which was hurriedly replaced once it became clear Iran would be coming.
Unlike the neighbors across the border, however, Tijuana residents have welcomed the Iranian team warmly. A large sign around the training ground reads in Persian: “Welcome to Tijuana.” Mexican fans came to support the team outside its hotel, telling reporters that “what the U.S. is doing to the Iranians is wrong. They treat everyone like terrorists.”
Forget about cheering
Four years ago, during the World Cup in Qatar, Iran was in the midst of mass protests at home following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for wearing an “improper hijab,” was beaten and later died in custody. Her death sparked the “hijab protests,” and at Iran’s opening match in Qatar, Iranian fans shouted the protest slogan: “Woman, life, freedom.” By the next two matches, hundreds of Revolutionary Guards members were reportedly in the stands, and the tone changed.
That cannot happen at this World Cup. Revolutionary Guards members will not be in the stadium, and many of the fans of Iranian descent who attend the matches will come from families that left the country at the start of the Khomeini revolution in 1979, or even earlier. Many were born in the United States and refuse to support the team.
“Soccer,” said exiled opposition leader Reza Pahlavi, “has become a weapon of the regime in its war against the Iranian people. Our people love the game, but you cannot separate this team from the regime that slaughtered thousands of people this year in the brutal suppression of protests.”
The original Iranian flag, featuring a golden lion and sun at its center, symbols associated with the secular monarchy that were removed from the current flag, has become a common sight at demonstrations in Los Angeles since the protests began. Fans who come to the match will not be allowed to wave it, because FIFA prohibits political expression by supporters.
“More than 20 of my friends and family members were killed by this regime,” said Roozbeh Farahanipour, a Los Angeles restaurant owner who was a political activist before fleeing Iran a quarter of a century ago. “I have fought this regime all my life. For me, this is not the Iranian national team. This is the team of the Islamic Republic.”
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In California, they’re waiting for Iran, and ready to boo
(Photo: REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh)
Iran has never advanced beyond the group stage at a World Cup, and this time it arrives without Sardar Azmoun, one of its biggest stars. Azmoun was removed from the squad after posting a photo on Instagram in March in which he was seen smiling next to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, at a time when Iran was firing missiles toward the UAE.
Azmoun has a history of clashes with the authorities. During the 2022 hijab protests, he wrote on social media that being expelled from the national team is worth the sacrifice, even for one strand of hair from the heads of Iranian women.” He was later restored to the squad under public pressure, but this time he could not be saved.
The Iranian team landed in Los Angeles Sunday ahead of today’s match, which it is expected to win against New Zealand. The only arrivals were the players, coaches and medical staff. Another 15 members of the delegation, including the entire communications department, were not permitted to enter.
For 90 minutes tonight, the players will try to forget all of it and remember only one thing: there are few things Iranians love more than soccer.