Who: Iran vs New Zealand
Content: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G matches
Location: Los Angeles Stadium, California, USA
Date and time: Monday, 6pm local time (Tuesday, 1am GMT)
How to follow: Get all the latest updates on Al Jazeera Sports
Iran will finally play its opening World Cup match on Monday after months of uncertainty over its participation in the tournament following attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel that began in late February.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
They will face New Zealand in California, home to the largest Iranian diaspora community outside the country, against a backdrop of conflict in the Middle East, adding a tense atmosphere to the battle between the two countries, who have never faced each other in a World Cup.
The All Whites return to international football’s biggest stage for the first time since 2010 and are aiming for their first World Cup victory.
Iran’s chaotic consolidation
Iran is participating in the World Cup while at war with the host nation, an unprecedented situation in the tournament’s 96-year history.
The team’s World Cup preparations are in disarray with all games scheduled to be played in the United States.
Due to the war, Iran’s participation was seen as uncertain in the run-up to the Games. They also had to travel overseas, moving their base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, and returning to the United States for every three group stage games.
Reports on progress in negotiations to end the war have done little to ease tensions around the team, with Iranian soccer officials criticizing FIFA after 11 members of the Iranian Football Federation were denied travel visas for the tournament.
According to widespread reporting on the team’s movements, the Iranian squad will arrive in the United States on the day of the match and must depart within 24 hours.
The atmosphere in Los Angeles was evident at Friday’s opening ceremony at Los Angeles Stadium, where boos could be heard as the Iranian flag was carried onto the field.
Los Angeles and its metropolitan area have the highest concentration of Iranians outside of Iran, but Iran will find out on Monday what kind of reception they will receive when they take to the pitch.
Iran aims to advance to finals tournament
Much attention has been focused on Iran’s chaotic build-up for the World Cup, but Team Melli has been quietly performing well heading into the tournament.
They have won their last three matches and have been in great form in World Cup qualifying, becoming only the third team to qualify for the tournament dating back to March 2025.
Iran will be participating in the World Cup for the fourth consecutive time and seventh time in total. They have won a group stage match in each of the last two competitions, beating Morocco 1-0 in 2018 and beating Wales 2-0 with two stoppage-time goals in Qatar in 2022. However, progress to the knockout stage is still not in sight.
However, Iran will be secretly confident of making it to the last 32 after favorable draws against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in the group stage.
New Zealand aims for first World Cup win
The All Whites will be aiming for their third World Cup final appearance and first World Cup victory.
Darren Bazley’s side will be hoping to build on the memories of their last appearance in 2010, when they were eliminated in the group stage but drew with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay, leaving South Africa unbeaten.
New Zealand’s hopes are likely to rest heavily on captain Chris Wood, the country’s all-time leading scorer, and he underlined his importance during qualifying by scoring back-to-back hat-tricks against Samoa and Fiji.
He needs to be at his best if New Zealand are to have any chance of making it to the last 32. New Zealand is the lowest-ranked team in this tournament, suffering back-to-back losses to Haiti and England in warm-up games in the United States.
direct confrontation
This is the third time New Zealand and Iran have played against each other, and the first time the two teams have met in an official match.
The last time they faced each other was in October 2003, when Iran won 3-0 in a friendly in Tehran with Ali Karimi scoring twice in the first half.
Prior to that, they first faced each other in a friendly in Auckland in August 1973, which resulted in a 0-0 draw.
Monday’s game will be the first time the two teams have faced each other at the World Cup, and the first time either team will play the opposing federation in the competition.
Form guide:
(Last 5 games, newest first)
Iran: WWWLD
New Zealand: LLLLD
Iran certainly comes into this game with a strong team, having won their previous three friendlies against Mali, Gambia and Costa Rica.
New Zealand, on the other hand, are not doing well. They have not won a match since June 2025, when they defeated Ivory Coast 1-0 in a friendly.
Where can I watch Iran vs. New Zealand?
Iranian fans will be able to watch the opening match on IRIB TV3, with the match kicking off at 4:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
The match is scheduled to start at 1pm local time, a very good kick-off time for New Zealand supporters. TVNZ will broadcast the match.
UK viewers can watch on the BBC, while US viewers can tune in to Fox.
Iran and New Zealand team news
Iranian footballers Dennis Eckert, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Torabi are all doubtful due to injuries, but midfielders Ruzbeh Cheshmi and Mehdi Torabi have recovered from their knocks and are expected to be fit to play.
New Zealand’s Ryan Thomas missed the All Whites’ warm-up game due to injury and is expected to miss this game.
Talismanic striker Wood is fit to play after an injury-plagued season. The New Zealander missed nearly six months with a knee injury.
Iran’s projected starting lineup:
Alireza Beiranvand (goalkeeper) Milad Mohammadi, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Ali Nemati, Alia Yousefi. Saeed Ezatollahi, Saman Ghodos, Mohammad Mohebi. Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Taremi, Mehdi Gheidi
Expected starting lineup for New Zealand:
Maxim Teremoana Crocombe (goalkeeper); Liberato Cacace, Michael Boxall, Finn Surman, Tim Paine. Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic. Ilya Just, Sarpreet Singh, Matthew Garbett. chris wood
