New Zealand Seeks First World Cup Win Against Iran
Los Angeles. New Zealand will be looking for their first win in the FIFA World Cup when they face Iran in Group G at the Los Angeles Stadium.
It has been 16 years since the 'All Whites' were the only team to remain unbeaten in the World Cup in South Africa. Ricky Herbert's team shared points in all three group stage matches, including a 1-1 draw with eventual champions Italy. However, they were eliminated in the first round.
Since debuting in the World Cup in 1982, New Zealand has not won any of their six final stage matches (3 draws, 3 losses). Only Honduras (9) and Egypt (7) have played more games without a win.
Darren Bazeley's team's main goal will be to break this winless streak. Having secured a place for the OFC confederation for the 2026 tournament, New Zealand took full advantage by winning all five qualifying matches. In the process, they scored 29 goals and conceded only one.
Coincidentally, New Zealand qualified for the World Cup just one day after Iran qualified in March 2025. Only Japan had secured a ticket to North America before these two nations. However, New Zealand, with only one win in their last 11 matches (8 losses), is not coming to the World Cup with high morale.
The All Whites need inspiration and will be hoping for Chris Wood to lead the attack. He is the only player from the 2010 squad to play in the 2026 World Cup. He is expected to lead the team, leaving behind an injury-plagued season.
As the country's all-time top scorer and most-capped player, he was the top scorer in the OFC qualifiers with 9 goals in 5 matches. Now at 34, the Nottingham Forest forward will be eager to make the most of this opportunity to shine on the biggest stage.
Scoring goals has been a major problem for Iran in their previous 6 World Cup appearances. Among teams that have played 15 or more World Cup games, they have scored the fewest goals per game (0.72). Only Bulgaria (11.5%) has a lower win rate than their win rate (16.7%).
In fact, Iran has won only three of their 18 World Cup matches, although two of those wins were very significant. They defeated the USA 2-1 in the 1998 World Cup. Similarly, four years ago in Qatar, they ended Gareth Bale's Wales' journey by defeating them 2-0.
Iran will need at least one win this year to keep any possibility of advancing from the group stage alive in their seventh attempt. Only Scotland (8) has participated in the World Cup more times without advancing from the first round than Iran.
Head coach Amir Ghalenoei hopes his team will give the countrymen some reason to celebrate amidst the ongoing Iran war. This war had jeopardized their participation in North America.
Iran made the qualifying round quite easy. Losing only one of their 16 matches, Iran topped both the second and third round groups, finishing ahead of Uzbekistan.
Mehdi Taremi played a key role in this. The experienced forward, currently playing for Olympiacos, was directly involved in 49% of the team's 35 goals (10 goals, 7 assists). He spent more time on the field (1,131 minutes) than any of his teammates. Like Wood, 33-year-old Taremi will be determined to make a similar impact in what could be his last World Cup.
Iran vs New Zealand: Head-to-Head
This will only be the third meeting between these two nations and the first in a competitive match. Their first encounter in Auckland in August 1973 ended in a goalless draw.
Iran won 3-0 when they met in Tehran in 2003. Ali Karimi put the team in a strong position by scoring two goals in the first half, while Hossein Kaebi secured the win by scoring in the middle of the second half.
Teams:
- Iran: Alireza Beiranvand, Payam Niazmand, Hossein Hosseini, Saleh Hardani, Ehsan Haji Safi, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Milad Mohammadi, Hossein Kanani, Arya Yosefi, Ali Nemati, Ramin Rezaian, Danial Eiri, Saeid Ezatolahi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebbi, Saman Ghoddos, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Mehdi Torabi, Mohammad Ghorbani, Amirmohammad Razzaqhinia, Mehdi Taremi, Mehdi Ghaedi, Ali Alipour, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Shahriar Moghanlou, Denis Dargahi.
- New Zealand: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud, Tim Payne, Francis de Vries, Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Nando Pijnaker, Finn Surman, Cam Elliott, Tommy Smith, Joe Bell, Matthew Garbett, Marko Stamenič, Sarpreet Singh, Alex Rufer, Callum McCowatt, Ryan Thomas, Loxley Ballis, Chris Wood, Elijah Just, Costa Barbarouses, Ben Whetton, Ben Old, Jesse Randall.
This specific news has been automatically translated by AI. As a result, there may be some inaccuracies or language errors.
