Iran v New Zealand, 15 June 2026

Score2-2
RefereeCésar Arturo Ramos
CompetitionFIFA World Cup Group G
VenueSoFi Stadium, Inglewood CA
Attendance70,108

View Iran v New Zealand head to head

Kick-off: 6.00pm local . Head to Head Played: 2 Iran won: 1 Drawn: 2 New Zealand won: 0 Iran scored: 5 New Zealand scored: 2 . FIFA World Ranking: Iran 20th, New Zealand 85th . The two previous meetings were played in August 1973 and October 2003.

2 Iran

Manager: Amir Ghalenoei

2 New Zealand

Manager: Darren Bazeley

Goals:

Ramin Rezaeian 32 G
Mohammad Mohebbi 64 G

Goals:

Elijah Just 7 G
Elijah Just 54 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand
Defender Shoja Khalilazadeh
Defender Milad Mohammadi
Defender Ali Nemati
Defender Aria Yousefi
Defender/Midfielder Ramin Rezaeian
Midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi
Midfielder/Forward Saman Ghoddos
Midfielder/Forward Mohammad Mohebbi
Forward Shahriar Moghanlou
Forward Mehdi Taremi (captain)

Starting lineup:

Max Crocombe Goalkeeper
Michael Boxall Defender
Finn Surman Defender
Liberato Cacace Defender/Midfielder
Tim Payne Defender/Midfielder
Joe Bell Midfielder
Elijah Just Midfielder
Callum McCowatt Midfielder
Sarpreet Singh Midfielder
Marko Stamenić Midfielder
Chris Wood Forward (captain)

Substitutions:

Mehdi Ghayedi for Aria Yousefi 46
Ali Alipour for Shahriar Moghanlou 53
Ehsan Hajsafi for Saman Ghoddos 65
Amir Hosseinzadeh for Mehdi Taremi 80

Substitutions:

Ben Old for Liberato Cacace 68
Ryan Thomas for Callum McCowatt 68
Callan Elliot for Tim Payne 77
Jesse Randall for Sarpreet Singh 90+2
Tyler Bindon for Marko Stamenić 90+2

Cards:

Ehsan Hajsafi 89 Y

Cards:

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini
Goalkeeper Payam Niazmand
Defender Danial Eiri
Defender Hossein Kanani
Defender/Midfielder Rouzbeh Cheshmi
Defender/Midfielder Ehsan Hajsafi
Defender/Midfielder Saleh Hardani
Defender/Midfielder Mehdi Torabi
Midfielder Mohammad Ghorbani
Midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Midfielder Amirmohammad Razzaghinia
Midfielder/Forward Mehdi Ghayedi
Midfielder/Forward Amir Hosseinzadeh
Forward Ali Alipour
Forward Dennis Eckert Ayensa

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen
Goalkeeper Michael Woud
Defender Tyler Bindon
Defender Francis De Vries
Defender Callan Elliot
Defender Nando Pijnaker
Defender Tommy Smith
Defender/Midfielder Ben Old
Midfielder Lachlan Bayliss
Midfielder Alex Rufer
Midfielder Ryan Thomas
Midfielder/Forward Kosta Barbarouses
Midfielder/Forward Ben Waine
Forward Jesse Randall

Comments:

Due to restrictions imposed in relation to their country’s conflict with USA, Iran had to fly into California from their camp in Tijuana, Mexico, less than 36 hours before kick-off, and leave immediately after the game. . Iran were now competing at their fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup finals and seventh in total. They have yet to progress beyond the group stage. . They lost one of their 16 games in qualifying for this FIFA World Cup tournament (won 11).

Comments:

In their two previous appearances at FIFA World Cup finals, New Zealand lost their three games in Spain in 1982 and drew all three in South Africa in 2010, where they were the only unbeaten team in the tournament. . Elijah Just had now become the first player to more than one goal in a game at a FIFA World Cup tournament for the All Whites. . Chris Wood played in a game at a FIFA World Cup finals after a gap of 15 years and 357 days: the second longest such gap in the competition’s history after Colombia’s Faryd Mondragón (16 years and two days). [c/o @MisterChiping] . New Zealand named only 14 of a possible 15 substitutes. Late squad replacement, Logan Rogerson, was deemed not fit enough to participate in this game.

2 Iran

Manager: Amir Ghalenoei

Goals:

Ramin Rezaeian 32 G
Mohammad Mohebbi 64 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand
Defender Shoja Khalilazadeh
Defender Milad Mohammadi
Defender Ali Nemati
Defender Aria Yousefi
Defender/Midfielder Ramin Rezaeian
Midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi
Midfielder/Forward Saman Ghoddos
Midfielder/Forward Mohammad Mohebbi
Forward Shahriar Moghanlou
Forward Mehdi Taremi (captain)

Substitutions:

Mehdi Ghayedi for Aria Yousefi 46
Ali Alipour for Shahriar Moghanlou 53
Ehsan Hajsafi for Saman Ghoddos 65
Amir Hosseinzadeh for Mehdi Taremi 80

Cards:

Ehsan Hajsafi 89 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini
Goalkeeper Payam Niazmand
Defender Danial Eiri
Defender Hossein Kanani
Defender/Midfielder Rouzbeh Cheshmi
Defender/Midfielder Ehsan Hajsafi
Defender/Midfielder Saleh Hardani
Defender/Midfielder Mehdi Torabi
Midfielder Mohammad Ghorbani
Midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Midfielder Amirmohammad Razzaghinia
Midfielder/Forward Mehdi Ghayedi
Midfielder/Forward Amir Hosseinzadeh
Forward Ali Alipour
Forward Dennis Eckert Ayensa

Comments:

Due to restrictions imposed in relation to their country’s conflict with USA, Iran had to fly into California from their camp in Tijuana, Mexico, less than 36 hours before kick-off, and leave immediately after the game. . Iran were now competing at their fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup finals and seventh in total. They have yet to progress beyond the group stage. . They lost one of their 16 games in qualifying for this FIFA World Cup tournament (won 11).

2 New Zealand

Manager: Darren Bazeley

Goals:

Elijah Just 7 G
Elijah Just 54 G

Starting lineup:

Max Crocombe Goalkeeper
Michael Boxall Defender
Finn Surman Defender
Liberato Cacace Defender/Midfielder
Tim Payne Defender/Midfielder
Joe Bell Midfielder
Elijah Just Midfielder
Callum McCowatt Midfielder
Sarpreet Singh Midfielder
Marko Stamenić Midfielder
Chris Wood Forward (captain)

Substitutions:

Ben Old for Liberato Cacace 68
Ryan Thomas for Callum McCowatt 68
Callan Elliot for Tim Payne 77
Jesse Randall for Sarpreet Singh 90+2
Tyler Bindon for Marko Stamenić 90+2

Cards:

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen
Goalkeeper Michael Woud
Defender Tyler Bindon
Defender Francis De Vries
Defender Callan Elliot
Defender Nando Pijnaker
Defender Tommy Smith
Defender/Midfielder Ben Old
Midfielder Lachlan Bayliss
Midfielder Alex Rufer
Midfielder Ryan Thomas
Midfielder/Forward Kosta Barbarouses
Midfielder/Forward Ben Waine
Forward Jesse Randall

Comments:

In their two previous appearances at FIFA World Cup finals, New Zealand lost their three games in Spain in 1982 and drew all three in South Africa in 2010, where they were the only unbeaten team in the tournament. . Elijah Just had now become the first player to more than one goal in a game at a FIFA World Cup tournament for the All Whites. . Chris Wood played in a game at a FIFA World Cup finals after a gap of 15 years and 357 days: the second longest such gap in the competition’s history after Colombia’s Faryd Mondragón (16 years and two days). [c/o @MisterChiping] . New Zealand named only 14 of a possible 15 substitutes. Late squad replacement, Logan Rogerson, was deemed not fit enough to participate in this game.