The Iranian and New Zealand national teams opened their campaign in the 2026 World Cup with an exciting draw (2-2), in the confrontation that brought them together in the first round of the group stage, with each side earning a point at the beginning of their World Cup journey.
The New Zealand national team entered the match strongly, and succeeded in opening the scoring early in the seventh minute through Elijah Gast, taking advantage of a quick start that confused the Iranian defence.
The Iranian national team responded in the 32nd minute after Ramin managed to score. Rezaian managed to equalize, and the first half ended in a positive tie (1-1), despite Ali Nemati being shown a red card in stoppage time of the first period, which made his country’s task difficult in the second half.
With the start of the second half, Elijah Just returned to give New Zealand the lead again in the 55th minute, scoring his second personal goal in the match, to put his country in a comfortable position against a competitor playing with ten players.
But the Iranian team showed a strong character. He did not give in to the numerical deficiency, as Mohamed Muhibi succeeded in returning the match to the starting point in the 64th minute after an organized attack that ended it in the net, giving his country the valuable equalizing goal.
The remaining minutes witnessed mutual attempts by both sides to snatch the victory goal, but the result remained the same until the final whistle, so that the two teams were satisfied with a point each at the beginning of their journey in the tournament.
With this tie, the two teams maintain their title. They have full chances of competing for qualification, awaiting the upcoming confrontations that may shape the features of the conflict within the group during the upcoming rounds.