Iranian Americans plan protests and watch parties ahead of team’s World Cup opener
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Iranian Americans are torn over Iran’s participation in the World Cup, as some community members plan to watch Monday’s match and others plan to protest outside the stadium where the team will play.
A rally is planned for outside the stadium near Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran. Many of Southern California’s Iranian Americans arrived after the Islamic Revolution, and a hub of eateries, shops and markets about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the stadium is known as “Tehrangeles.”
Rally participants plan to wear lion-and-sun T-shirts and wave the country’s flag from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in protest of Tehran’s deadly January crackdown on dissent.
Ali Javahery, a 59-year-old consultant who was born in Iran and lives in California’s Orange County, said he will be outside protesting Iran’s opening match against New Zealand, not inside watching it. He said soccer and politics are intertwined, and though he loves the sport, he says the national team’s players are under pressure to adhere to the Iranian government’s positions.
“This is not ‘Team Melli,’” as the national team is known in Persian, Javahery said. “This is Team Islamic Republic.”
Iran’s participation in the tournament has been fraught with conflict because of the country’s war with U.S. and Israeli forces. The team moved its training base to Mexico from Tucson, Arizona, and some of the country’s key soccer officials had not been granted visas to enter the United States. Many in the diaspora have mixed feelings over how to show their support of the Iranian people, but not the government, through their love of soccer.
“We play for every Iranian, be it in the diaspora or in Iran. People have different opinions, but we are here to unite people and we will try to bring joy to all Iranians wherever they live,” team captain Mehdi Taremi said at a press conference Sunday. “We are here to bring joy to Iranian people. We do not get involved in politics. We are here to play football.”
Reza Garajedaghi, 57, said he will watch the game with his 96-year-old father in San Diego. He said he didn’t buy tickets for the game, partly because of the sky-high pricing. But he said he supports the team, politics aside, while respecting the wide range of views shared by Iranians in the diaspora.
“I’m a football die-hard, and the boys, they’re representing all Persians, Iranians around the world,” said Garajedaghi, who left Iran when he was 10 years old. “To me, it has nothing to do with whatever government they have in Iran.”
Watch parties are planned to cheer on the team in Southern California, and when Iran was assigned last year to play in LA, many bought tickets. But in recent months some said they have sold off their tickets in anger, following January’s brutal repression.
Some Iranian American soccer fans have also said the team is currently tied up in politics. In the past, Iranian athletes have faced serious consequences for speaking out. In 2022, a prominent former member of the national team was arrested for allegedly protesting against the country’s leadership, and star striker Sardar Azmoun wasn’t selected for the World Cup squad this year, reportedly because of a social media post that angered authorities.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei called Azmoun an “excellent player” and said he wished he were with the team.
“I am just happy that they are coming to watch us and I hope that they will pray for us and I hope that they will encourage us,” Ghalenoei said Sunday when asked about the sizable diaspora. He added that he hoped the team would pay back that loyalty by playing a good game.
Some Iranian Americans are also upset about FIFA’s rule barring political flags from being flown. They want to fly the pre-revolution lion-and-sun flag, which is not the official flag of Iran. The Iranian American Institute for Voices for Liberty said it filed a lawsuit last week in California to challenge FIFA’s flag rule.
During Friday’s opening ceremony in Los Angeles, members of the mostly American crowd booed when Iran’s flag was brought onto the field.
Late Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had reached a deal with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 has rattled the region and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf. Details of the deal, expected to be signed Friday, weren’t available.
Havertz sparks Germany’s 7-1 rout of Curaçao after underdogs’ historic 1st goal in World Cup
HOUSTON (AP) — Germany’s seven-goal rout of Curaçao in its World Cup opener on Sunday was the perfect outcome to overshadow a close first half and boost the team after consecutive group-stage exits for the four-time champions.
Kai Havertz scored two goals as Germany pulled away from World Cup first-timer Curaçao and piled it on in a 7-1 win in group play. The smallest country to ever appear in the tournament hung tight at 1-1 until the 38th minute.
“We really needed this convincing win,” coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “We needed this self-confidence. It was there but it definitely grew.”
He said Sunday’s display was important for the country’s fans.
“We have to show them that we can perform and we have to have the confidence,” he said. “I think we’re in a better spot than we were entering this match.”
Livano Comenencia tied it at 1-1 with his left-footed shot through traffic from the center of the box in the 21st minute to give Curaçao its first goal in the tournament and send fans of the tiny Caribbean nation into a frenzy.
“Even though it wasn’t me, it felt like it was me, it was all of us, the whole island, everybody,” Curaçao’s Jearl Margaritha said. “We screamed our lungs out. So we were happy.”
It was all Germany after that with the team regaining the lead on Nico Schlotterbeck’s header off Nathaniel Brown’s corner kick in the 38th.
“One team has very high expectations and the other one doesn’t and that’s a bit tricky,” Nagelsmann said.
The six-goal margin was well short of the World Cup record of nine, which has happened three times, most recently when Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982. And the performance from the Germans was much more expected than the last time they won 7-1 in a World Cup, beating host Brazil in the 2014 semifinals.
Havertz connected on a penalty shot into the left goal in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-1. Germany was awarded the penalty shot after Felix Nmecha was tripped in the box by Riechedly Bazoer.
Germany wasted no time after halftime to extend the lead, with Jamal Musiala scoring on a right-footed shot across the goalkeeper’s area in the 47th minute.
Brown scored in the 68th minute to push the advantage to 5-1. The 22-year-old has an American father, but made it clear ahead of the World Cup he’d be representing the country in which he was born and raised by his mother.
Deniz Undav added a goal in the 78th minute. Havertz’s second goal came in the 88th.
Germany is seeking redemption after failing to get out of the group stage in Russia and Qatar following its 2014 title.
“We are on the right path but of course there are things that we can do better and we will have stronger opponents,” Nagelsmann said.
Nmecha one-timed it with his right foot into the near post just inside the upper box with an assist from Florian Wirtz in the sixth minute to make it 1-0.
The crowd of 68,021 was overwhelmingly rooting for Germany but there was a spirited contingent of people cheering on Curaçao.
It was the first match of the tournament at NRG Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans.
Manuel Neuer, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who came out of international retirement for the tournament, had one save in his first appearance for Germany in almost two years.
The match featured the largest age gap between coaches in World Cup history with Curaçao’s 78-year-old coach, Dick Advocaat, becoming the oldest ever in the tournament against 38-year-old Nagelsmann, who is the youngest coach in this year’s tournament.
Germany faces Ivory Coast in its next match in Toronto on Saturday and Curaçao meets Ecuador Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.