The players were reportedly told that their families would face "violence and torture" if they once again refused to sing the national anthem, which they also complied to ahead of their victory in their second Group B match against Wales last Friday (November 25).

Iran state media also called for USMNT to be kicked out of the ongoing 2022 World Cup due to the United States Soccer Federation sharing a changed version of Iran's flag in order to show support for protesters.

The federation briefly displayed Iran's national flag without the emblem of the Islamic Republic on its verified Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts in a now-deleted graphic of the Group B standings initially posted on Saturday.

U.S. Soccer said it wanted to display the green, white and red flag in an effort to "support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights,” but planned to change the flag for 24 hours and had always intended to go back to the original Iranian flag.

“We have the main flag on our website and other places," U.S. Soccer told CNN, referring to the change as part of "a one-time graphic" and acknowledging that the original flag was back on all of its verified social media accounts.

USMNT midfielder Christian Pulisic, long dubbed as the face and future of American soccer, scored the match's only goal in the 38th minute of play.

Pulisic collided with Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand on the goal and was helped off the field by USMNT trainers before returning to the match several minutes later.

The Americans held a 51% possession advantage, as well as an 12 to 3 advantage in shots and 5 to 0 edge in shots on goal.

The USMNT faced a must-win scenario trailing Iran by one point ahead of its final match of Group B play.

The Americans finished Group B play with five points, while Iran finished with three points, following Monday's match.

England secured the top Group B seed with seven total points.

Mel Taylor