2026 World Cup: Iran expected in Los Angeles for its entry into the running in a tense geopolitical context

A tense geopolitical climate in the middle of the World Cup. Iran is expected on Sunday June 14 in Los Angeles (California), on the eve of its World Cup debut against New Zealand (June 16, 3 a.m. French time), a match on American soil crushed by the geopolitical context and the war in the Middle East.

With the conflict triggered by the American-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Tehran maintained doubt about the participation of Team Melli in the World Cup until the end. The United States refused to grant visas to around fifteen members of the management and the team also established its base camp at the last minute in Tijuana, Mexico, rather than in Tucson (Arizona) as initially planned.

The Iranian selection was legally required by Fifa to be in Los Angeles on Sunday, on the eve of its first match. A press conference is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. (12:45 a.m. French time) at SoFi Stadium, located very close to the international airport where the players should land from Tijuana, after a flight of around twenty minutes.

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Starting the World Cup in “Tehrangeles” – one of Los Angeles’ nicknames for the importance of its Iranian community – could seem like an advantage, but part of the diaspora considers the selection as a propaganda instrument for the Islamic Republic. Major demonstrations were organized in January in the Californian megalopolis to denounce the crushing of a new popular uprising in Iran which left thousands dead.

Calls for demonstrations on Monday in Inglewood (California) around this ultra-modern 70,000-seat stadium were launched, to wave the flag of Iran before the Islamic revolution when the green, white and red banner was decorated with a lion and a sun.

Some protesters could also invite themselves inside the enclosure and boo the Iranian anthem, as in Qatar in 2022, raising the threat of tensions over the meeting. Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali warned that Iran would be particularly monitoring “flags and slogans”, threatening to stop the match in the event of symbols hostile to the Islamic Republic. And on Saturday, the president of the Iranian football federation, Mehdi Taj, recalled that Fifa had to ensure that only the Iranian flag in its Islamic Republic version would be visible in the World Cup stadiums.

FIFA regulations prohibit any accessory of “political nature” in the stadiums. But its application has been variable in previous tournaments and no one knows how opponents with tickets will be treated. These uncertainties about the reception reserved for Team Melli contribute to the pressure surrounding the meeting in Los Angeles.

Iran, 20th in the FIFA rankings, must play its three Group G matches in the United States, the second also in Los Angeles on June 21 against Belgium, and finally the third in Seattle on June 26 against Egypt.