Iran were held to a 2-2 draw by New Zealand in their Group G clash of FIFA World Cup 2026 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday.
Updated: June 16, 2026, 1:30 PM IST
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Mohammad Mohebbi of Iran celebrates his goal during the Group G match against New Zealand at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium on Monday. (Photo: IANS)
Iran vs New Zealand FIFA World Cup 2026: Iran national football team were held to a 2-2 draw by New Zealand in their opening Group G match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday. But minutes after the politically charged encounter the Iran team were ordered to leave the American shores and return to their training base in Mexico.
Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei didn’t reveal who ordered the Iranians to leave earlier than they had planned. The team were planning to spend the night in California to maximize on the recovery for the team after a tough opening encounter. But were informed that they had to catch a plane to Mexico immediately and return to their training base in Tijuana, amid the ongoing Iran-US tension in West Asia.
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“They didn’t even give us time to recover. After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter as quoted by AP news agency.
The Iranians World Cup preparations have been in a turmoil since USA and Israel began a war against the nation on February 28. Iran have decided to compete in the tournament even after FIFA rejected their request to move their three group-stage matches out of the US.
They came from behind twice in an exciting match, leveling the clash from Mohammad Mohebi in the 64th minute before a strongly pro-Iranian crowd at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, which has the world’s largest population of Iranians outside Iran.
Elijah Just scored early in each half for New Zealand, but Iran responded twice with a pair of beautiful goals, including Mohebi’s header off a perfect pass from Ramin Rezaeian, who had scored off the side of his boot in the first half.
WATCH Iran’s Mohammad Mohebi score an equalizer against New Zealand HERE…
IRAN SCORE AGAIN!!!
Iran 2-2 New Zealand
Mohammad Mohebi scores equaliser pic.twitter.com/obHEO1ETbS
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) June 16, 2026
Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team went through five hours of travel and security checks during what’s normally a very short trip from Tijuana to Los Angeles on Sunday. “We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why. I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup,” Ghalenoei claimed.
In addition to this, important staff members of the team including Iran’s football federation President, coaching support and media officials have been denied visa by the US Government.
“We have to leave Los Angeles right now, and it’s not good for us,” Taremi said about an hour after the match. “I think FIFA have to help us more than this. … Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us.”
The Iran head coach revealed that several members of the team had developed cramps after their game in Los Angeles. “Before the game, I said we haven’t had time to adjust because of the travel. Many of our players, they had cramps, and that’s why we had to substitute them. So it wasn’t for technical reasons that we made substitutions. It was because of the injury and because of the cramp. They will be examined (Tuesday) by our technical staff, but the fact they delayed our arrivals and they are forcing us to go back early without time for recovery, they are making the situation more difficult,” Ghalenoei said.
Iran will play their remaining two games in group stage against Belgium in Inglewood on Sunday, followed by a trip to Seattle to face Egypt next week.
