FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (AP) — First it was their fans performing a synchronized “Viking row” in the stands at matches.
Then it was their players donning authentic Viking attire, complete with weapons, shields and long boats, to the backdrop of a fjord for a moody, dramatic photo shoot.
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Norway's Erling Haaland smiles during a training session ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Iraq and Norway in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken talks to the media during a press conference ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Iraq and Norway in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - A Norwegian fan reacts ahead of the Women's World Cup Group A soccer match between Norway and Nigeria at stadium Auguste Delaune in Reims, France, Saturday, June 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Norway's Erling Haaland arrives during a training session ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Iraq and Norway in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - A Norway fan cheers during a Group I, World Cup qualifier soccer match between Moldova and Norway at the Zimbru stadium in Chisinau, Moldova, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurel Obreja, File)
“A dream 28 years in the making... let’s do this!” Norway star Erling Haaland wrote on the X platform Monday, reposting the photo of the team along with one of his father, Alfie Haaland, competing for the national team in the 1994 World Cup.
Norway is leaning into the country’s centuries-old history as its star-studded men’s team, containing Haaland and Martin Odegaard, heads into a first World Cup in 28 years.
It has created plenty of excitement and debate.
“It was an ask or a question from the (photographers),” Norway manager Stale Solbakken said Monday in advance of his team's World Cup opener against Iraq. “The players wanted me to do it. They were positive. The federation was positive. And I was average positive. And then we did it."
The Norway fan routine sees lines of supporters, wearing Viking helmets and the team’s red-and-blue jerseys, rowing in unison, forward and backward, to the steady beat of a drum.
Expect it to catch the eye at the World Cup in Norway’s group games at Foxborough, Massachusetts (against Iraq and France) and in New Jersey (against Senegal).
It could potentially have a similar impact to the “thunder clap” performed by Iceland’s fans at the European Championship in 2016 that resonated around the world and has since been used by many other sports teams.
The Norwegian soccer federation commissioned British photographer David Yarrow to take the Viking snap, and he said in an interview with The Athletic he knew “it might get some criticism.”
Yarrow was right.
As well as sparking wonder for its breathtaking backdrop and creativity, it also is regarded by some as controversial for harking back to a time — in the 800s and 900s — when Norwegian Vikings conducted raids featuring looting and pillaging.
One commentator, Markus Slettholm from daily paper Morgenbladet, said the photo was chauvinistic and “a bit reminiscent of what neo-Nazis were concerned with 10 years ago.”
Solbakken doesn’t see the fuss.
“There are many bigger and more difficult topics,” he said before the World Cup. “I can’t afford to waste time on that.”
Yarrow previously worked with Haaland in a solo photo shoot.
The BBC reported that sales of the Viking-themed team photo will raise funds for Norwegian charities.
Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
Norway's Erling Haaland smiles during a training session ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Iraq and Norway in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken talks to the media during a press conference ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Iraq and Norway in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - A Norwegian fan reacts ahead of the Women's World Cup Group A soccer match between Norway and Nigeria at stadium Auguste Delaune in Reims, France, Saturday, June 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Norway's Erling Haaland arrives during a training session ahead of the World Cup Group I soccer match between Iraq and Norway in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - A Norway fan cheers during a Group I, World Cup qualifier soccer match between Moldova and Norway at the Zimbru stadium in Chisinau, Moldova, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurel Obreja, File)
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Demonstrators amassed Monday outside Iran’s first World Cup match, waving the pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flags banned inside the stadium and calling for change in Tehran.
Iran's participation in the World Cup, beset by challenges since the war's outbreak, has divided the U.S. diaspora, as the scene near Los Angeles showed. The national squad has become a Rorschach test of sorts, with rallygoers contending the team was synonymous with Iran's government, while the fans who filed past said they were separating soccer from politics.
Southern California is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, many of whom arrived after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Just hours before kickoff against New Zealand, a Los Angeles judge upheld FIFA's ban on the pre-revolutionary flag at matches, The Athletic reported.
Ella Bah, 42, nevertheless was wearing the flag tied around her like a dress. She and other protesters had brought extra clothing to cover up before entering the stadium, and planned to reveal themselves after entering, she said.
“We’re not here to cheer them on,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re here to be the voice for the people inside Iran.”
Like Bah, some protesters said they had tickets to watch the game. Rameileh Jaffrey, 46, said she wants a change in Tehran’s government to bring freedom to the country she left a dozen years ago.
“They are not my team. They are a government team,” she said. Even so, she said she hopes Iran will win, and has plans to see the team play later in the tournament.
A woman protesting jeered Kia Keanh and his family as they walked by wearing T-shirts supporting the team.
“I’m just here to watch the sport, it’s not about the regime,” he said. “I’m just here for a World Cup game, to enjoy it with my family.”
Iran's participation in the tournament has been fraught with conflict because of the country's war with U.S. and Israeli forces. Late Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had reached a deal with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 has rattled the region and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf.
After the war's outbreak, the team moved its training base to Mexico from Tucson, Arizona, and some of the country's soccer officials were not granted visas to enter the United States. Many in the diaspora have mixed feelings over how to show their support of the Iranian people, but not the government.
“We play for every Iranian, be it in the diaspora or in Iran. People have different opinions, but we are here to unite people and we will try to bring joy to all Iranians wherever they live,” team captain Mehdi Taremi said at a press conference Sunday. “We are here to bring joy to Iranian people. We do not get involved in politics. We are here to play football.”
Kourosh Safavi, 42, traveled to see Iran play from Dallas, Texas, with his 11-year-old son Jibreel. While he was born in the U.S, Safavi said he wanted to cheer on the country of his ancestors, where soccer means so much.
“They’re playing for the people, and I just hope and pray that they have success, that they can bring the people in Iran happiness,” he said.
Put off by sky-high prices, Reza Garajedaghi, 57, said he would watch the game with his 96-year-old father in San Diego.
“I’m a football die-hard, and the boys, they’re representing all Persians, Iranians around the world,” said Garajedaghi, who left Iran when he was 10. “To me, it has nothing to do with whatever government they have in Iran.”
Some Iranian American soccer fans have said the team is tied up in politics, dissuading them from supporting the squad. But Safavi noted players are often put “between a rock and a hard place.” In the past, Iranian athletes have faced serious consequences for speaking out. In 2022, a prominent former member of the national team was arrested for allegedly protesting against the country’s leadership, and star striker Sardar Azmoun wasn’t selected for the World Cup squad this year, reportedly because of a social media post that angered authorities.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei called Azmoun an “excellent player” and said he wished he were with the team.
“I am just happy that they are coming to watch us and I hope that they will pray for us and I hope that they will encourage us,” Ghalenoei said Sunday when asked about the sizable diaspora. He added that he hoped the team would pay back that loyalty by playing a good game.
Still in their street clothes, many of the Iranian players walked onto the field nearly two hours before kickoff. Thousands of fans already in the building greeted them with loud cheers and whistles while the team examined the grass.
Some Iranian Americans are also upset about FIFA's rule barring political flags from being flown. The Iranian American Institute for Voices for Liberty filed a lawsuit last week to circumvent the ban on the pre-revolutionary flag, but a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Monday the ban could stand.
“There may be harm to some 2,500 staff members who have to deal with safety protocols,” Judge Curtis Kin said, according to The Athletic. “It is a tremendous burden to change a long-standing stadium protocol for a massive event in a period of hours. It is hard to see how FIFA could make a change at one stadium and not the rest.”
Parsa Ezati, 21, and his mother brought the official Iranian flag of the current government to the protest so that people could stomp on it. Many passersby took the opportunity to walk over it, some giving it an extra scuff or taking a minute to spit on it.
“It represents the ayatollahs that killed so many Iranians and have massacred people in my generation,” Ezati said. “FIFA only accepts this flag on the floor.”
AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham contributed to this report.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
People protest outside Los Angeles Stadium before the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Pre-revolutionary Iranian flags stand during a protest outside Los Angeles Stadium before the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
People protest outside Los Angeles Stadium before the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman has her face painted during a protest in reaction to FIFA's ban of Iran's pre-revolutionary flag inside World Cup stadiums Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Hanson)
Iran head coach Amir Ghalehnoy, right, and player Mehdi Taremi listens to a question during a press conference ahead of their FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
People carry a giant Iranian flag during a protest in reaction to FIFA's ban of Iran's pre-revolutionary flag inside World Cup stadiums Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Hanson)
Iran's Mehdi Ghayedi, center, and teammates walk onto the pitch at the stadium one day before their FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Iran players walk onto the pitch at the stadium one day before their FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
