Saffeya Ahmed

Earlier this week, Iran played their first match of the 2026 World Cup.

It was against New Zealand.

And Iranian Americans across the country were very proud to show up and support their team.

And people were definitely celebrating.

I attended a watch party in New York City for the game.

And even though it was a pretty small room, the energy was electric, both during the match and even after the final whistle.

One man was waving an Iranian flag.

Others started dancing and cheering.

But celebrations aside, this is a complicated World Cup for many Iranian Americans.

That's Shervin Zainalzadeh.

He's part of the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University.

Zainalzadeh says that Iran's football team has been received in a less than hospitable way.

And the visa issues are just the start of it.

Here's how some of the Iranians I spoke to in New York feel about that treatment.

But not every Iranian American feels this way.

Outside of the stadium where Iran played in Los Angeles this week, my colleague saw a small group of people demonstrating.

And it wasn't about the war or the treatment of the players.

Zainal Zadeh of Arizona State University says that these protesters see the team and the authoritarian government of Iran as pretty much one and the same.

They're voicing their dissent of a regime that has cracked down on protesters in recent months and also shut off the internet in Iran.

One man that I spoke to in New York agrees with that sentiment.