Iran vs New Zealand World Cup score, highlights: Match ends in 2-2 draw – USA Today

INGLEWOOD, CA — The second Group G match of the 2026 World Cup was unlike any other in the tournament.
Iran and New Zealand met at SoFi Stadium on Monday, June 15, with the contest will be in the backdrop of the political turmoil between Iran and the U.S. It is Iran’s first match in the country since the war with the U.S. began, and even though there’s a framework deal to end the conflict, tension remains after the issues Iran faced prior to the start of the tournament.
While there are plenty off-the-field storylines, it was a fun contest. Both teams provided plenty of fireworks, and it resulted in a 2-2 tie. Both teams have hopes of advancing to the knockout round, and after the draw in Belgium vs. Egypt, those hopes remain as each team in the group has gained a point.
USA TODAY provided coverage of the match between Iran and New Zealand. Here is a recap of all the latest news, updates and highlights:
The referee blows the whistle, and Iran and New Zealand will each get one point with a 2-2 draw.
Iran gets a prime chance to take the lead late, but is unable to get an official shot toward the net.
Captain Chris Wood gets the opening to header a shot in, which is caught without much issue by Iran goalie Alireza Beiranvand.
Iran and New Zealand will get five more minutes to try and get the game-winner.
Ehsan Hajisafi trucks over a New Zealand player and earns the yellow.
With the match end drawing close, Iran is starting to get more aggressive offensively, trying to take the lead in Group G. Yet the All Whites have been able to hang on, including a save from goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
New Zealand
Iran
With less than 20 minutes to go, both sides have gotten opportunities to pull ahead, but neither can get a solid shot on goal off to threaten the other side.
Iran
New Zealand
Back and forth we go! Ten minutes after New Zealand took the lead back, Iran responds to tie it at 2-2.
It started with a perfect cross from the Iran’s first goal-scorer of the night in Ramin Rezaeian. He put it in the center of the box for Mohammad Mohebbi, and his header finds the left corner of the goal as the heavy Iran supporting crowd erupts in jubilation.
It’s a brace! Elijah Just scores his second goal of the match to put New Zealand back on top at 2-1.
Just brought it in to Chris Wood, and he delivered the perfect touch right back to Just to set him up perfectly. He sends a strike into the goal.
With his second goal, Just is the first New Zealand player to score two goals in a World Cup match.
Iran kicks off the final 45 minutes of action.
A back-and-forth, entertaining first half results in the score tied with each team one goal a piece.
Iran had several moments to break through, but it couldn’t get enough clean shots to go ahead. Meanwhile, New Zealand has made it matter when it gets close, with five shots on goal compared to Iran’s two.
The match has been fast-paced, without many moments for either side to catch their breath.
Iran thought it had gone ahead just before halftime when Ali Nemati put it in the net, but the linesman puts the flag up to rule offsides, wiping off the goal. A replay clearly shows Nemati committed offsides.
Trying to score off a out of bounds pass, Shahriyar Moghanloo’s header sails over the cross bar.
New Zealand captain Chris Wood tried a long shot on the left, and Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand is able to control it.
A delay in action after Ezatolahi was down for several minutes with an apparent injury as medical staff attended to him. He is able to walk off the pitch and returned a few moments later.
Finally, Iran breaks through. A few passes gets Shahriyar Moghanloo a chance, but his shot gets deflected. Luckily, Ramin Rezaeian is right there for the deflection, and he maneuvers to get the ball past the goalkeeper and into the bottom left corner of the net to get Iran on the board.
It’s another score for Rezaeian after he got Iran’s last goal of the World Cup in 2022.
A mistake nearly results in an Iran goal. Goalkeeper Max Crocombe tried to clear the ball outside of the box, but Iran is able to block it. It leaves the net wide open, but Saman Ghoddos can’t convert the long shot.
Afterward, both teams get off a shot each.
Iran nearly tied up the score. Captain Mehdi Taremi dribbled the ball all the way from midfield to near the box, and with a lane, sent a strike that hit the near post. It bounces right back into New Zealand’s possession and gets cleared.
The game then goes to a hydration break.
Most of the Iran supporters in the crowd thought they were about to get a penalty awarded. A long pass into the box results in Moghanloo and New Zealand’s Tim Payne getting tangled. Iran players plead with the referee for a foul but he doesn’t award it.
Moghanloo stayed on the ground and gets attended to by medical staff.
The opening goal seems to have Iran frazzled. New Zealand has been on the hunt for a second score, threatening inside the box. It already has four attempts on goal compared to Iran’s two.
What a quick surprise. New Zealand had been playing defensive for the first seven minutes, but when it got an offensive opportunity, it capitalized.
A flurry of passes and deflections put the ball right in front of Elijah Just, and he sends a strike right past Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand. It’s a strong start for the team eyeing its first World Cup win.
After several early threats, Iran finally gets a shot off, only to be saved by New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
We are underway with New Zealand opening the match.
There was no silent protest by Iran’s players during their national anthem. 
The team sang during the anthem − some quite boisterously − and several applauded when it ended. That is a marked change from four years ago, when the players stood silent during the anthem in acknowledgment of the “Life, Woman, Freedom” protests in Iran. 
The players’ decision to sing is not necessarily a sign of support for their government. Athletes who have been public in their opposition have been punished, with some even put to death. 
There was a loud chorus of boos from fans when the anthem began. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian population outside Iran, with many coming to the United States during the 1979 revolution. 
Two of the three players who scored for Iran at the last World Cup are starting in the opener for this year’s tournament. 
Mehdi Taremi, who had both goals in a 6-2 loss to England, and Ramin Rezaeian, who had a goal against Wales are in the starting 11 against New Zealand. Roozbeh Cheshmi, who had the other goal in the 2-0 win over Wales, is on the bench for the Group G game. 
Only 10 players in the history of Iran’s national soccer team have appeared in more international games than Sardar Azmoun. He’s not with the squad as they compete in the 2026 World Cup.
“I am very sad,” Azmoun said on Varzesh3’s online World Cup show, per Erfan Hoseiny. “I have many things to say, which I won’t say for now.”
According to Reuters, Iranian media reported in March that Azmoun was “expelled from the national team for a perceived act ​of disloyalty to the government.” The outlet reported that the central issue was an Instagram post Azmoun shared in January that showed him shaking hands with Sheikh Mohammed bin ​Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. The veteran forward has since deleted the post.
With Los Angeles owning the largest population of Iranians outside of Iran, plenty have made their way to SoFi Stadium to support Team Melli. Majority of fans are donning the Iran colors, with some fans bringing in the pre-revolution flag that had been banned by FIFA.
Iran was greeted with cheers and supportive whistles when it took the field for pre-game warmups. 
Many fans stood as the players came out about 45 minutes before kickoff. Some waved flags − both the current one and the pre-revolutionary one that FIFA has banned − or held up scarves. 
Captain Mehdi Taremi looked around the stadium as he ran out, clapping to acknowledge the support. Taremi had acknowledged on Sunday that the political turmoil has had an impact on the team.
“We respect all Iranians. Be they Iranians inside the country or Iranians outside the country,” Taremi said through a translator. “We are here at the World Cup to bring joy to Iranians wherever they are.” 
Just hours before New Zealand starts its World Cup run, the national team announced Matt Garbett has been ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.
The injury comes after Garbett played in New Zealand’s final World Cup tune-up against England on June 6. He has 30 caps for the national team at the senior level, scoring five goals.
“The whole squad’s thoughts are with Matt at this time and we are gutted he won’t be able to play in the tournament,” the team said in a statement.
As a result, New Zealand is calling up Logan Rogerson to take the place, and will travel to join the team. He is listed as absent in the match lineup.
If you want the World Cup to promote peace and harmony in the world, you have to actually let it do that. Not use it as a political football.
Which is exactly what FIFA and the United States are doing.
The Iranian team has been put in an impossible position at this World Cup, a pawn in the war between its government and the United States. The players do not set policy or make laws. Yet Team Melli is being treated as if they do, and FIFA is going along with it.
— Read Nancy Armour’s column here.
Fans will not be allowed to bring Iran’s pre-revolution flag into World Cup stadiums after a judge upheld FIFA’s ban.
The decision, by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin, came just hours before Iran is to play New Zealand in Los Angeles, which has the largest Iranian population outside of Iran.
Despite the ruling, several fans outside SoFi Stadium were still carrying the banned flag, which features a lion and the sun in the center rather than the Islamic Republic symbol. Iran has another game in Los Angeles, against Belgium on Sunday, June 21, followed by one in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
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