The 'mother of all football games' repeated itself on Wednesday as the two countries clashed in a crucial match at the World Cup for the first time in 24 years.
The US and Iran have a long, complicated past that spans back to 1953 when Iran's prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh opted to nationalise the country's oil industry to benefit his people.
Since then, several disputes between the two nations followed, particularly upon the fall of the Shah's rule in the 1979 Iranian revolution. It prompted US President Jimmy Carter to sever all formal diplomatic, and political ties with Iran - and bilateral relations have remained tense. The last time the USA and Iran played against each other in the World Cup was in 1998, described as the "mother of all football games" and known as the most politically charged match in World Cup history.
USA players instead walked over to the Iranian side, who in turn gifted them with roses, and a two-team photograph was taken. "It makes even things more complicated because the division now is not only about Iran and America - it is also about Iranians."
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