- USA show Iran flag without emblem of Islamic Republic
- Teams meet on Tuesday in their final Group B match
It has long threatened to be one of the World Cup’s biggest flashpoints: the “Great Satan” against the “Axis of Evil”. But on Sunday the USA’s match with Iran became even more highly charged after Iran’s football federation demanded their opponents receive a 10-game ban for “offending the dignity” of their country.
The extraordinary request came after the US Soccer Federation displayed Iran’s national flag on social media, in a now-deleted graphic, without the emblem of the Islamic Republic – in support of protesters in Iran before the nations’ Group B match on Tuesday.
