LOS ANGELES: Iran’s national football team has arrived in the United States, touching down at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday ahead of their FIFA World Cup opener against New Zealand on Monday, following a recently declared ceasefire.

The squad left their training base in Tijuana earlier in the day, where supporters gathered to give the players an emotional send-off.

Outside the team hotel, fans chanted “Team Melli” — the Persian term for “national team” — as players boarded the bus one by one en route to the airport.