A brilliant brace from forward Elijah Just ensured the All Whites kicked off their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a hard-fought draw with Iran in Los Angeles.
Spurred on by a raucous support inside SoFI Stadium Iran started brightly in Los Angeles but the crowd were stunned into silence after just seven minute as Elijah Just combined brilliant with Chris Wood before slamming a volley beyond Alireza Beiranvand and into the roof of the net.
Proving himself to be a handful from the outset Wood saw a half-chance cleared away by a scrambling Iranian defence but the Asian side almost levelled things up before the cooling break; Mehdi Taremi rattling Max Crocombe’s left-hand post with a shot from distance.
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Crocombe almost then got himself in an almighty mess soon after, first misjudging a bouncing ball into the box which saw him challenge Mohammad Mohebbi for the ball before the striker then got back to his feet and charged down Crocombe, who’s sliced clearance went straight to an Iranian teammate who’s shot was then fired wide of an empty goal.
Iran soon bagged the equaliser though and it came courtesy of some excellent work from striker Shariah Moghanlou inside the box, who rolled defender Michael Boxall before the loose ball was then fired home by the arriving Ramin Rezaeian.
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Both sides traded blows and Iran thought they’d snatched the lead in first-half stoppage time as Ali Nemati headed home from a freekick only to see the offside flag raised, with replays showing Nemati was comfortably offside.
The All Whites regained the lead in the 55th minute and once again it came as a result of some brilliant link-up play between Wood and Just, with the former feeding the latter inside the box, with Just supplying a deft finish to put New Zealand into the lead.
In what was fast becoming one of the games of the tournament so far Iran hit back in the 64th minute as full back Rezaeian whipped a gorgeous ball into the box for Mohebbi to head onto the foot of the post and into the back of the net to make it 2-2.
With a whole host of Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix players waiting in the wings to come on, All Whites boss Darren Bazeley turned to Auckland defender Callan Elliott and former Black Knights forward Jesse Randall to make the difference, whilst Wellington’s Sarpreet Singh was withdrawn in the 90th minute.
Both sides threatened for the remainder of the half with Iran often causing chaos inside the All Whites box, however Darren Bazeley’s side held on to secure a valuable point on Matchday One.
Furthermore, the result also sees the All Whites sit top of Group G due to FIFA’s fair play ruling, sitting above Iran due to Ehsan Haji Safi’s late yellow card.
It’s also the first time in 68 years that all four matches on a single day in the FIFA World Cup have ended in a draw.
Net up for the All Whites is a hotly anticipated match-up with Mohamed Salah’s Egypt on Monday, June 22 in Vancouver.
Salah registered the assist for Egpyt as they recorded a 1-1 draw with Group G favourites Belgium in Seattle.
