Who: Iran vs New Zealand
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match
Where: Los Angeles Stadium, California, US
When: Monday, 6pm local time (01:00 GMT on Tuesday)
How to follow: Keep up with all updates on Al Jazeera Sport
Iran will finally take to the field for their World Cup opener on Monday after months of uncertainty surrounding their participation in the tournament and following the United States-Israeli attacks on their country that began in late February.
They will face New Zealand against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East and in a region, California, that is home to the largest Iranian diaspora community outside the country, adding a charged atmosphere to a contest between two nations that have never met at the World Cup.
The All Whites are back on the biggest stage in international football for the first time since 2010 and are seeking their first-ever win at a World Cup.
Iran is playing at the World Cup whilst the country is at war with a host nation, a situation that is unique in the tournament’s 96-year history.
The team’s World Cup preparations have been thrown into chaos with all of their matches scheduled to be played in the US.
Iran’s participation had appeared uncertain in the build-up to the tournament because of the war. They also moved their base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, leaving them to travel internationally back to the US for each of their three group-stage matches.
Reports of progress in negotiations aimed at ending the war have done little to ease tensions around the team, with Iranian soccer officials criticising FIFA after 11 members of Iran’s football federation were denied visas to travel for the tournament.
The Iran squad must also arrive in the US on the day of their matches and depart the country within 24 hours, according to widespread reporting on the team’s movements.
The mood in Los Angeles was evident during Friday’s opening ceremony at Los Angeles Stadium, when boos could be heard as the Iranian flag was carried onto the field.
Iran will learn on Monday what sort of reception awaits them when they take to the pitch, although Los Angeles and its metropolitan area are home to the largest concentration of Iranians outside of Iran.
Whilst so much of the focus has been on Iran’s chaotic build-up to the World Cup, Team Melli have been quietly putting together a good run of results ahead of the tournament.
They have won their last three matches and were in fine form during World Cup qualifying, becoming the third team to secure their spot at the tournament back in March 2025.
Iran are appearing at their fourth successive World Cup and seventh overall. They have won a group-stage match at each of the last two tournaments, beating Morocco 1-0 in 2018 and defeating Wales 2-0 in Qatar in 2022 with two stoppage-time goals. Yet progress to the knockout phase has remained elusive.
But with a favourable group stage draw pairing them with New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt, Iran will be quietly confident of making it to the round of 32.
The All Whites are making their third finals appearance and are seeking their first win at a World Cup.
Manager Darren Bazeley’s side will hope to draw on memories of their last appearance in 2010, when they were eliminated in the group stage but left South Africa unbeaten after draws with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay.
New Zealand’s hopes are likely to rest heavily on captain Chris Wood, the country’s all-time leading scorer, who underlined his importance during qualifying with successive hat-tricks against Samoa and Fiji.
He will need to be at his very best if New Zealand are to have any chance of making the round of 32. They are the lowest-ranked team at the tournament and suffered back-to-back defeats to Haiti and England in their warm-up matches in the US.
This is just the third meeting between New Zealand and Iran and the first time the sides have met in a competitive fixture.
They last played 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 met in August 1973 when they played out a 0-0 draw in a friendly in Auckland.
Monday’s game will be the first World Cup meeting between the teams and the first time either has faced opposition from the other’s confederation at the tournament.
(Last five games, latest first)
Iran: W-W-W-L-D
New Zealand: L-L-L-L-D
Iran are certainly the in-form side heading into this fixture, winning their last three friendlies against Mali, Gambia and Costa Rica.
New Zealand, meanwhile, are on a poor run of form. They haven’t won a match since June 2025, when they beat Ivory Coast 1-0 in a friendly.
Where to watch Iran vs New Zealand?
Iran’s fans can watch their opener on IRIB TV3, with the game kicking off at 4:30am local time on Tuesday morning.
It’s a much better kickoff time for supporters in New Zealand, with the match due to begin at 1pm local time. TVNZ will broadcast the game.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch it on the BBC, while those in the United States can tune in to Fox.
Iran’s footballers Dennis Eckert, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Torabi all look doubtful to play due to injuries, but midfielders Roozbeh Cheshmi and Mehdi Torabi are expected to be fit to play after recovering from knocks.
New Zealand’s Ryan Thomas is expected to sit this game out after missing the All White’s warm-up matches with an injury.
Talisman striker Wood is fit to play after a season plagued by injury. The New Zealander missed almost half a year due to a knee injury.
Alireza Beiranvand (goalkeeper); Milad Mohammadi, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Ali Nemati, Aria Yousefi; Saeid Ezatolahi, Saman Ghoddos, Mohammad Mohebi; Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Taremi, Mehdi Ghayedi
Maxime Teremoana Crocombe (goalkeeper); Liberato Cacace, Michael Boxall, Finn Surman, Tim Payne; Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic; Elijah Just, Sarpreet Singh, Matthew Garbett; Chris Wood
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