Flags are one of the standout features for international matches. It's a clear indicator of who the person is from and/or supporting. In normal circumstances, there's no harm in having these flags.
However, that hasn't occured in the World Cup. The Iranian flag has caused outrage because of its contains.
"I’m sure when we score a goal today, everyone will be cheering." That was the prediction of Iranian fan, Parsa Tafreshi, who had travelled from New York to Los Angeles to see Iran take on New Zealand on Monday.
His words would prove largely true. The game ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw and each time Iran – known as Team Melli – scored, the stadium erupted in deafening celebrations.
There were two opposing sets of Iranian flags in Los Angeles, home to a large Iranian-American community that is largely staunchly opposed to the governing system in Tehran.
Some fans waved the Islamic Republic flag, adorned with the name of God. Others opted for the pre-1979-revolution flag featuring the lion and sun; used by the Iranian opposition.
When Team Melli were building up an attack, their supporters sang in unison.
Chants of "Iran, Iran" rang throughout the stadium and the fans held their breath collectively each time Iran’s attackers came near New Zealand’s goal.
Concerns of unrest around the game didn't materialise. Iranian fans vastly outnumbered their New Zealand counterparts at the stadiu and the game ended without any major incident.
"I love that all the hype was just outside of the stadium," said Sudi Farokhnia, who wore a green, white and red wig and a shirt featuring the lion and sun flag.
"Once you walked into the stadium, all you could hear was Iran, Iran, Iran. The energy was amazing. The people were amazing," she said after the match.
That doesn't mean the entire affair was apolitical. It would be difficult to argue that the pre-revolution flag is not a political statement.
FIFA bans political symbols at international matches but thousands of Iranian fans on Monday were able to come in with lion-and-sun flags, shirts and hats.
Many also wore political slogans like "Make Iran Great Again" and "free Iran."
Inside the stadium, a group of Iranian fans also revealed a "MINAB 168" message during the game.
There were also Palestinian and Israeli flags visible in the stands.
The match kicked off with a political message: Many fans jeered the Iranian national anthem; which opposition activists see as representative of the government.
Iran’s participation in the tournament was in peril earlier this year because of the war. Team Melli were forced to stay in Mexico as their base camp, while all their group-stage matches were in the US because the Trump administration refused to host them.
Once the ball was kicked, however, that all faded into the background. It was 11vs. 11. The football delivered excitement, joy and disappointment.
Iran dropped two valuable points against a lower-ranked tea; but came twice from behind and hit each of the two times the net bulged; the goals brought happiness to a nation with two flags at home and abroad that has gone through war and immense hardship.
There was a number of protesters outside. When Iran scored, almost all Iranians cheered.
"The Iranian team is not playing. The Islamic Republic's team is." For Roozbeh Farahanipour, there is no separating football from politics.
Before Iran hd kicked a ball in Los Angeles, the team's presence at this World Cup - being hosted across North America - is already fraught.
Even the issue of flags displayed inside stadiums has become an issue of intense debate; after FIFA prohibited fans from flying a certain banner that it deems to be too political.
Farahanipour, an Iranian-American activist and chief executive of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, fled Iran in 2000 after years of political activism.
Since then, he has built a life in Los Angeles, home to one of the world's largest Iranian communities outside Iran - and the city in which the first two of the team's group-stage matches will take place.
The neighbourhood of Westwood, on Los Angeles' west side, has long been known as "Tehrangele.s
Farahanipour's opposition to the government in Tehran is deeply personal "My cousin was killed and my mom was jailed," he says. "There is no peace between me and this regime."
Yet, he rejects the idea that the answer lies in war - reflecting on the conflict that broke out on 28 February after the US and Israel attacked Iran. "I hate this regime and I hate this war," he says. "Nothing justifies killing innocent people."
Those contradictions are becoming increasingly familiar for Iranian-Americans as Iran prepare to play those two matches in LA, and a third in Seattle.
These are difficult times to be an Iranian football fan, especially here in the US. Iran is a football-loving nation and many here have followed Team Melli for years.
This World Cup arrives amid a fragile ceasefire, continuing hostility between Iran, the United States and Israel and deep divisions over what Iran's team represents.
Opponents of the government in Tehran have gathered waving the Lion and Sun flag. It was Iran's flag from before the 1979 Islamic revolution; and for many here, a symbol of resistance to the current regime.
From a distance, they look like Iranian flags. A closer look reveals the symbol at the heart of the dispute.
For protesters here, the Lion and Sun represents Iran. "It is a stance against the Islamic Republic. This is the real flag of Iran," says Arezo Rashidian, one of the protest organisers.
The emblem on the national team's jerseys, they argue, represents a government they want gone. That post-revolution flag has the same green, white and red stripes but also features the Islamic emblem of four crescents and a sword in red.
The Arabic inscription, "Allahu Akbar" - which translates to "Allah is the greatest" and is recited by Muslims during prayer - is also featured on the flag.
Many of those gathered outside SoFi Stadium accuse the Islamic Republic of using sport to project legitimacy abroad while repressing dissent at home. "Regime change is the goal. We're here to show solidarity with the people of Iran," says Rashidian.
She said they are against "the mass killings of individuals protesting freely," referring to the anti-government protests in January and February and the widespread crackdown by the regime forces which resulted in thousands of deaths.
At the time, state officials acknowledged several thousand casualties, while activist groups and medical sources documented mass shootings, overwhelmed hospitals, and leaked mortuary records indicating the true scale of the violence.
My dear and wonderful readers, please forgive me but I feel like I can't put in my two cents on this matter. Politics bore me. I'm aware of the current conflict. Sport should be used to unite people and not a way to project their views and create a divide.