The playing of Iran’s national anthem before its team's World Cup match against New Zealand on Monday in Los Angeles generated a thunderous reaction from the crowd, as a blend of boos and cheers roared throughout the stadium.

Videos shared to social media captured the moment, highlighting the match's atmosphere extending beyond sports and reflecting political fissures within the Iranian diaspora and among spectators in attendance.

Politico reporter Daniel Miller described the crowd booing the anthem loudly and that it "didn’t let up." Sports broadcaster Ben Jacobs said the moment was "deafening" with a mixture of cheers and boos, creating a somewhat emotional division before kickoff.

Iran's World Cup match comes on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump announcing a deal to end America's ongoing war with Iran.

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Los Angeles is home to one of the largest Iranian communities outside Iran, and many Iranian Americans oppose the current government in Tehran. Earlier this year, there were numerous gatherings in the City of Angels in support of the people in Iran.

Leading up to the match, anti-regime groups organized demonstrations, local outlet NBC 4 reported, as protesters earlier voiced opposition to Iran’s presence at the tournament, per Reuters.

The controversy reflects broader tensions that have followed Iran’s World Cup campaign from the outset. The Middle Eastern country faces unusual logistical and security challenges as its team's headquarters was switched earlier from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico.

"California has a large Iranian diaspora. Some of its members left after the Shah fled and the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. Others are their descendants. Many in the Iranian diaspora abhor the Islamic Republic, backed Trump’s war, and support Reza Pahlavi the Shah’s son, who lives in exile in this country. So I’m not in the least surprised that Iranians in California came out to demonstrate against Iran’s national soccer team. But it’s unfortunate and indeed unfair that the entire team was in effect denounced as supporters of the Islamic Republic. How could the protestors possibly know the political orientation of each member of the team?" Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of International Relations at the City College of New York, told Newsweek on Monday in part.

US Flag Booed by Canadian Crowd

The booing of Iran’s anthem also occurred amid a broader pattern of national symbols drawing reactions from crowds at World Cup events. The U.S. flag was jeered during opening ceremonies in Canada, illustrating how international sporting events can become venues for the expression of political grievances, national identities and public sentiment.

Canadians were also heard booing the United States on Thursday at the FIFA Fan Festival in Toronto. Fans gathered to watch the opening ceremony broadcast from Mexico and reacted with boos when the United States was introduced as one of the tournament's three host nations.

The U.S. and Iran recently reached a preliminary agreement aimed at ending months of war in the Middle East, Trump said on Sunday.

In a post to Truth Social on Monday, he also said, "Ships are starting to move, many loaded up with Oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz. They are going along the Southern 'Highway,' which is totally safe, secure, and pristine. There are other areas of travel, also!!! President DJT." In another post, he said that Iran agreed to never have a nuclear weapon.

"On Iran’s pledge not to build nuclear weapons: The White House is touting this as a major achievement of the prospective deal with Iran. It is not," Menon added later in his statement to Newsweek. "This has been Iran’s position at least since the late Ayatollah and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued an edict prohibiting nuclear weapons more than twenty years ago. Moreover, in the preamble of the 2015 JCPOA, signed during Obama’s presidency, Iran renounced nuclear weapons. So it’s inaccurate to present Iran’s renunciation of nuclear weapons in the Memorandum of Understanding as a major breakthrough."

In Trump's announcement of the deal, he said that he authorized the "toll free opening" of the Strait of Hormuz and removal of the U.S. naval blockade.