Iran arrives in Los Angeles ahead of Monday match against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood

Iran's national soccer team arrived in Los Angeles ahead of its World Cup opener against New Zealand, carrying pressure that extends beyond the field.

Iran's national soccer team arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon ahead of its World Cup opener against New Zealand, carrying pressure that extends beyond the field.

The team is set to play Monday evening at SoFi Stadium, temporarily known as Los Angeles Stadium for the tournament. In the lead-up to the match, Iran's head coach and team leaders faced questions about the political pressures surrounding the team as war continues between Iran and the United States, and as critics condemn Iran's government.

For Iran's national team, the World Cup comes with pressure on and off the field.

The team moved its training camp to Mexico after war broke out between Iran and the United States and has faced visa and travel challenges since. Still, during a Sunday press conference, Iranian team leaders stressed unity, saying, "We want to unite everyone in the same way Iran has been unified for years, and we want to do that through football."

That message did not resonate with demonstrators outside SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Iranian American protesters said the team represents "an oppressive regime" that has killed tens of thousands of its own people. Some called on FIFA to ban Iran from the tournament.

"Many of them were athletes who were killed during the 2026 January uprising in which hundreds of cities rose up inside Iran," Ryan of the California Society of Democracy in Iran said.

"Iranian people, despite the World Cup taking place, the regime in Iran is still in power, terrorizing people and executing political prisoners," said Nasser Sharif, president of the California Society of Democracy in Iran.

The team, however, maintained that its focus is soccer, saying, "We are not political people, football is separate from politics."

Salma Mousa, a political scientist at UCLA, said Iranian athletes do not always have the freedom to speak openly.

"They should really just be focusing on the game and representing their country, but they're at this really strange kind of intersection between representing a government and representing the people," Mousa said.

While the team did not address political oppression in Iran during the Sunday press conference, players sent a message during their arrival. Players arriving in Mexico this week wore gold pins with the number 168, honoring the victims of a February strike on a children's school in southern Iran, an attack widely attributed to the United States.

FIFA banned South Africa in the 60s for decades due to its apartheid. Demonstrators at the protest on Sunday said the organization should take similar action against Iran.

Iran is scheduled to play New Zealand on Monday evening at Los Angeles Stadium, and the protesters said they plan to be there.

Mexican authorities are investigating how a corpse ended up outside a stadium in the border city of Tijuana, where Iran's national team has been training for its upcoming World Cup match against New Zealand.

Officials said they found the corpse on Friday in a parking lot across from Tijuana's Estadio Caliente stadium. The body was inside a bag in the trunk of a gray vehicle, which was opened by police due to its pungent smell.

Iran's national squad is using Tijuana as its base during the World Cup due to visa delays, as well as travel restrictions imposed on the team's administrative staff and coaches.

Full story here.

Somali referee Omar Artan will be paid for his World Cup match assignments by FIFA, sources told ESPN, after he was refused entry into the United States prior to the start of the tournament.

Artan, recognized as Africa's leading referee, returned to Somalia after being turned away from the U.S. on his arrival in Miami last week because of visa issues.

A statement by U.S. Border and Customs Protection cited "vetting concerns" for the 34-year-old's removal from the country. FIFA president Gianni Infantino told critics to "chill and relax" when asked about FIFA's failure to intervene successfully on Artan's behalf.

But sources have said that Artan will be fully remunerated for his commitments at the World Cup. The exact figure has yet to be determined due to the number of games that Artan would have been assigned.

In the wake of Artan's exclusion from the World Cup, UEFA moved to appoint the official to take charge of the UEFA Super Cup, a preseason clash between Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and Europa League winners Aston Villa in Salzburg, Austria, in August.

Iran's National Soccer Team is set to play in the second match of this year's World Cup hosted at Los Angeles Stadium amid major political tensions.

Iran's National Soccer Team is set to play in the second match of this year's World Cup hosted at Los Angeles (SoFi) Stadium amid major political tensions.

There has been plenty of government push-back, public protests, and even lawsuits in the days and weeks leading up to the match.

A protest against the current Iranian government is planned for Sunday at 11 a.m. by members of the local Iranian American Community. The group behind it says they're protesting the regime's ongoing human rights abuses with a focus on athletes and political prisoners.

There have already been several local protests in the leadup to the World Cup involving Iran. There was another protest outside Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday, which called on FIFA to suspend and expel the Iranian regime from international football.

In a different protest at SoFi Stadium last Sunday, protesters called on FIFA to allow Iran's pre-revolution lion and son flags. Fans are currently barred from bringing the flag into World Cup stadiums, presumably because FIFA considers it a political symbol, which is prohibited under tournament rules.

"It's just off why they're banning certain flags. This is a sports game. They're claiming to not get involved politically, but they're making it political," said protest organizer Arzeo Rashidian. "We support the players because we know that not all of the players stand with what the regime has done, but they're sports, they're athletes."

A local organization filed a lawsuit against FIFA in L.A. County court this past week, calling the ban unlawful. Eyewitness News has reached out to FIFA for a statement on that lawsuit but still waiting to hear back.

The game against New Zealand kicks off Monday at 6 p.m. under heavy security.

Restrictions limit the team to arriving just one day before and leaving one day after the game.

FIFA blocked ticket sales for Iranian fans after the U.S. denied visas to 15 team officials over security fears.