Iran anthem booed before World Cup opener against New Zealand following protests at Los Angeles stadium
The Iranian national anthem received a boisterous mixture of boos, whistles and cheers at SoFi Stadium before the country's World Cup opener with New Zealand, according to Daily Mail correspondents covering the game in Los Angeles. This was the Iranian soccer team's first game since the country struck a preliminary deal with President Donald Trump's White House to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic. The two countries will now work on a larger peace plan amid the tenuous ceasefire.The crowd included Americans, New Zealanders, and members of Los Angeles' sizable Iranian population. Among southern Californians, LA is often referred to as 'Tehrangeles' for its estimated 230,000 Iranian-American citizens, many of whom fled the current regime before and after the 1979 revolution. And those who still oppose the government in Tehran made themselves known on Monday by waving the pre-revolutionary flag, which includes the depiction of a sword-wielding lion and a sun. There were some boos and whistles circulating through the stadium as the Iranian team appeared on the scoreboard, and that only grew worse when the public address announcer asked attendees to stand for the national anthem.But the response from the crowd wasn't entirely negative throughout the 2-2 draw. There was some cheering among pockets of pro-regime fans at SoFi Stadium, where some supporters were seen waving the country's current flag. And as the anthem crescendoed, a surge of cheers could be heard throughout much of the building. (L-R) Shoja Khalilzadeh, Saeid Ezatolahi, Alireza Beiranvand and Mehdi Taremi of IR Iran line up for the national anthem before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match against New Zealand Alireza Jahanbakhsh #7 and players of IR Iran line up for the national anthem in Los Angeles Iranian fans wave the pre-revolutionary flag at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday A protester holds a sign with a portrait of the son of the last shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, as people demonstrate against the Iranian regime outside SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles Pro-regime fans are spotted at SoFi Stadium waving Iran's current post-revolutionary flag Prior to kickoff, protestors demonstrated against the current Iranian regime's persecution of athletes and political prisoners. And some remained hopeful that a strong run at the World Cup could help mend the rift between Iran and its expats. 'You would hope that soccer and sports brings unity,' Iran fan Dany Taheri told NBCLA. 'It brings everyone together, people on both sides of the aisle inside Iran and outside Iran.' That proved to be the case when Ramin Rezaeian scored the first of two equalizers in the 32nd minute and Mohammad Mohebbi followed with the other in the 64th minute. Iranian fans on both side of the political divide reacted to each goal with sheer exuberance and many refused to return to their seat for long stretches of play. 'Tehrangeles celebrates!!!!!' one attendee wrote on X.
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Iran anthem booed before World Cup opener against New Zealand following protests at Los Angeles stadium
