When Iran's national anthem plays, there is widespread booing in the stadium. When the team takes the field, it becomes a home game. The Iranian community is publicly debating whether supporting the team means supporting the regime — and that internal struggle is visible on the players' faces.
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At 17:40 · chapter starts 15:05
With the joy and the complexity both named, Tarek Panja turns to the tournament's most fraught story: Iran. This is the first time in World Cup history that a competing nation is in active military conflict with a host country. The Iranian diaspora in the US is not a monolith — some refuse to support the team entirely, calling it a propaganda tool of the Tehran government. But the majority, Panja says, are caught in the middle: they love the team, they love their country, and they are trying to find ways to support both while also opposing the regime. The result is visible in real time at every Iran match in Los Angeles. When the national anthem plays, it is met with widespread booing. Some fans turn their backs to the flag. Others wave pre-revolution flags in protest. Then the whistle blows — and it becomes a home game. What we are seeing, Tarek says, is nationalism, identity, patriotism, and a community working out who they are, all around an international soccer tournament.
Iran is playing World Cup matches in Los Angeles while in active military conflict with the United States. This is the first time in the tournament's history that a team has been in military conflict with a host nation. The Iranian players had to stay in Tijuana, restricted to entering the US for one day at a time.
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