USA v Iran: The historic 2000 friendly match planned to bring countries together
By Mani DjazmiBBC Sport
15 December 202015 December 2020.From the section Football
Iran s visit to the United States took place two years after their World Cup group-stage win at France 98
Paris, 11 July 1998. On the eve of the World Cup final, in a first-floor room in a building on the Champs-Elysees, an idea for a football friendly was hatched that would lead to death threats, an FBI decoy and the closure of American airspace.
That night, a media reception by US Soccer to promote the United States hosting of the 1999 Women s World Cup was in full swing.