Thanks to goals in each half from Mohammad Mohebbi and Rezaeian Ramin, Iran clawed their way back into the game twice against New Zealand in their FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage game. The game ended with both teams deadlocked at 2-2. Elijah Just and Chris Wood combined for both New Zealand goals (7th minute and 54′) but Iran levelled the game both times in what was an entertaining FIFA World Cup 2026 game at Los Angeles. Iran also struck the upright, thanks to a vicious shot from Iran captain Mehdi Taremi.
Just a day after the USA and Iran reached a tentative agreement to end the war in Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian football team is on US soil to play their FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against New Zealand at the Los Angeles Stadium in a Group G opening clash. Expect this to be an emotional FIFA World Cup 2026 game at least for one team and their fans, many of whom are likely to be split about cheering for the side.
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Unlike the rest of the 47 teams, The Iranians have not had the best of the build-up to the FIFA World Cup. Iran captain Mehdi Taremi complained before the game that his team had a challenging experience due to multiple disruptions created by their nation’s war with the US, the tournament’s co-host. The Iranians only managed to arrive in Los Angeles on Sunday from their training base in Tijuana, Mexico — about 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the stadium where they will open group-stage play against New Zealand. Iran initially planned to train in Tucson, Arizona. But then USA and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, killing its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the initial missile strikes. After the war, Iran planned to move base to Baja California. FIFA then rejected Iran’s desire to play its group-stage World Cup matches outside the U.S., claiming logistics and contracts wouldn’t allow it.
This is the Iran and New Zealand’s first meeting at a FIFA World Cup. Both sailed through qualification stage, with Iran losing only one game in a 16-match event while New Zealand reached a third finals on the back of a flawless campaign in Oceania.
Scroll down to read updates from the FIFA World Cup 2026 game between Iran and New Zealand.
Coming up, Iran on US soil: Tension, security – and divided fans
Iran fans wave as players arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, for the World Cup. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Los Angeles has another name. Iranians call it Tehrangeles, home to the largest concentration of Iranians outside Iran itself. On Monday evening, it stages a football match unlike any in World Cup history: involving a country engaged in a military conflict with the host nation until a day before the game. Iran face New Zealand on Monday while a peace deal between Iran and USA was agreed on Sunday.
The deal notwithstanding, Iranian players will cross over into the US from their base in Mexico’s Tijuana the day before their games, play the match, and return to Mexico the same night. These are the logistics of war, in a tournament built for peace.
“I’ve been to three World Cups and they always say, once you get off the plane and enter the host country, there’s just a unique atmosphere of friendliness and globalness,” striker Mehdi Taremi, who will play in his third World Cup, said from Tijuana last week. “Unfortunately, I’m not feeling it right now. There’s a lot of tension. You feel it in the atmosphere.”
