What a brilliant day it was for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The Day 5 is over and interestingly all the games have ended in a draw. This is the first time in 68 years that such a thing has happened on a match day in the World Cup. That is it from our side for now. Do join us again for the coverage of action on Day 6. Till then, good bye! 

And the final whistle has been blown as the FIFA World Cup 2026, Group G match between Iran and New Zealand end in a 2-2 draw. A thrilling contest finally comes to an end with no winner but both the teams gave a tough fight to each other. It's a special moment for New Zealand for holding the mighty Iran in this game. With this, all the four games of Day 5 ended in a draw. 

90' 4' Iran's Milad Mohammadi tries to play a pass from outside the box, but the defenders react quickly and clear the ball. Iran earn a corner, giving them a good chance to attack. However, Iran fail to convert the opportunity into a goal as Mehdi Ghaedi's kick swings in the corner. 

The 90 minutes of the Iran vs New Zealand match are up and the scores are still levelled at 2-2. Both the teams have been allotted five minutes of extra time. Will there by anymore twists in the tale now? 

87' Saeid Ezatolahi makes another attempt, only to see it getting spoiled by New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe. Saeid Ezatolahi tries his luck with a long-range shot aimed at the centre of the goal, but Max Crocombe is alert and makes an easy save. 

85' Saeid Ezatolahi of Iran receives a nice rebound. He then unleashes a fiery kick but the ball goes over the crossbar, resulting in another disappointment from Iran. However, Iran are still in a good position and there will be no surprises if they a take a lead soon.

80' Mehdi Ghaedi of Iran picks up an injury while trying to snatch the ball from New Zealand players. The team physio takes Ghaedi out of field as Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh steps in as his replacement. 

72" Mehdi Ghaedi of Iran tries to put in a cross to find his teammate, but a New Zealand defender remains alert, steps in and blocks it, clearing the danger. Good defense from the Kiwis. 

66' New Zealand replacements

Liberato Cacace is replaced by Benjamin Old
Callum McCowatt is replaced by Ryan Thomas

Iran replacements 

Saman Ghoddos goes off the pitch and Ehsan Hajsafi (Iran) comes on as his replacement.

63' GOAL!!!! The moment when we though that Iran are going on the backfoot, Mohammad Mohebi strikes for them and gives a befitting reply to New Zealand's defense. Mohedi jumps high to meet a good cross from Ramin Rezaeian and guides the ball in off the left post with a fiery header, leaving New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe with no chance. As Iran make it 2-2, the entire stadium erupts in celebrations again. 

NZ 2: 2 IRN

54' Iran's Mohammad Mohebigets in a good position to meet the cross and heads the ball towards the centre of the goal, but New Zealand goalkeeper Crocombe reacts quickly and makes the save. This is a terrific one as the Kiwis maintain their 2-1 lead over Iran. 

54' GOAL! New Zealand have taken the lead once again. It looks a like a replay of the previous goal as Chris Wood and Elijah Just are the architects again. Chris Wood shows great awareness and plays a smart pass to Elijah Just, who stays calm inside the box and finishes neatly into the goal. New Zealand are dominating the proceedings at the moment. 

NZ 2:1 IRN

51' Shahriyar Moghanlou of Iran tries to make a terrific attempt to score but fails once again. He fires a terrific shoot from the edge of the box but the ball goes high over the post, giving a sigh of relief to New Zealand. 
 

49' What a brilliant defense from New Zealand. Iran's Mehdi Ghaedi reacts quickly to a loose ball and shoots from the edge of the box, but his effort is blocked by defenders in front of him. Scores are still levelled at 1-1. 

47' A good chance goes waste for New Zealand. Chris Wood does well to win the ball back and takes a long-range shot, but it goes high over the crossbar. The ball goes out, and Iran get a goal kick.

In the second-half of the match, Iran call Aria Yousefi back and replace him with Mehdi Ghaedi. So far, this is the only replacement in the match. 

Hello and welcome to the second-half of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Group G match between Iran and New Zealand. With scores levelled at 1-1, an action-packed second-half is on the cards. 

This marks the end of the first-half of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Group G match between Iran and New Zealand. The game began with Elijah Just scoring for the Kiwis in the seventh minute but Iran bounced back in style with an equalizer from Ramin Rezaeian in the 31st minute. The second-half will be an interesting one as both the teams will be giving their best to take the lead. 

45' 5' Oh no!!! This is so heartbreaking for Iran as their goal is declared off-side. Ramin Rezaeian fires a lovely cross into the box, where Ali Nemati simply places the ball into the nets. As Iran players begin to celebrate the lead, the referee signals it off-side. Hard luck for Iran as score stay level at 1-1. 

The first 45 minutes of the Iran vs New Zealand match are up and both the teams have been allotted six minutes of extra time. Will any team take a lead? Only time will tell. 

45' New Zealand fail to make the most out of the free-kick. Chris Wood hits a strong free kick straight towards the middle of the goal, but Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand is ready and makes a solid save to keep the ball out.

44' Iran's Shoja Khalilzadeh commits a big foul. He aggressively brings New Zealand's Cacace during a tackle. As a result, referee Cesar Arturo Ramos wastes no time and award New Zealand with a free-kick. A good opportunity for them to take a lead again. 

39' That's very close! Joe Bell of New Zealand gets inside the box and looks for a teammate to give a pass. However, he doesn't find anyone in the right position as the ball goes out of play. Iran get a goal kick in return. 

34' New Zealand's Sarpreet Singh is in no mood to slow down as he continues to attack Iran box to steal a goal. This time again, he makes an attempt inside the penalty area but Iran defenders show extreme alertness and avert the coming threat. This game is getting better with every passing minute. 

32' Goal! Iran have finally done it. After all the terrific attempts, they have finally hit the equalizer. Shahriyar Moghanlou gives a simple pass inside the box to Ramin Rezaeian, who takes his time and fires a low shot straight into the centre of the goal. The entire stadium erupts in the celebrations, making this moment totally surreal. 

NZ 1: 1 IRN

29' Saman Ghoddos makes a fiery attempt to hit an equalizer for Iran. He unleashes a powerful shoot but the ball goes high over the crossbar. In return, New Zealand get a goal kick. 

23' Iran's Mehdi Taremi creates a good scoring chance from outside the box and takes a shot, but it hits the right post and goes away, so the score remains unchanged. Iran need to bounce back at the earliest. 

20' New Zealand's Sarpreet Singh once again fails to convert his effort into a goal. He gets the ball near the edge of the box and takes a shot towards the centre of the goal, but it lacks power and is easily saved by Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.

14' New Zealand's Marko Stamenic sends a good cross into the box, but the Iran defenders clear it away. However, New Zealand manage to win a corner. Another opportunity for New Zealand to make it 2-0. 

12' Sarpreet Singh of New Zealand makes a brilliant solo run into the box, beating a few defenders. However, the Indian-origin players fails to convert it into a goal as his shot goes way off target. The ball goes out of play, and Iran get a goal kick.

10' Iran's Ramin Rezaeian has been quite unlucky so far as his attempts are not bearing any fruits. This time, he gets a crossfield pass and tries his best to latch it hard. However, the ball goes out of play and the referee signals a throw in for New Zealand. 

7' GOAL!!!! What just happened here? Iran were the ones who were looking to attack from beginning but New Zealand just threw a surprise package and took an early lead. Elijah Just of New Zealand got a perfect pass inside the box from Chris Wood and calmly fired the ball into the top of the net, leaving the Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand with no chance.

NZ 1: 0 IRN

6' Aria Yousefi of Iran makes a brilliant run past a few defenders and enters the box, but his low shot straight towards the goal is easily saved by New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe. That's a good save as New Zealand are regularly averting Iran's threats. 

3' Oh!!! That was intense. New Zealand star Joe Bell shows aggressiveness on the field and brings Aria Yousefi down during a tackle. As a result, Cesar Arturo Ramos wastes no times and signals a foul. Iran get a free-kick in return. 

2' Iran's Ramin Rezaeian receives the ball inside the box and attempts to hit for the score. However, his try is spoiled by New Zealand's amazing defense, who denied Iran an early lead. Iran are looking to attack right from the beginning. 

Cesar Arturo Ramos The FIFA World Cup match between Iran and New Zealand has finally started. Referee Cesar Arturo Ramos has blown the opening whistle as New Zealand get the kick-off. This is going to be a power-packed clash. Let's play!

Deafening mix of boos and cheers for the Iran national anthem. pic.twitter.com/7jjBNYhazf

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) June 16, 2026

Players of both the team are out on the field for their respective national anthems. The highly-anticipated moment is here as Iran's national anthem is being played on US soil. The Iran vs New Zealand, FIFA World Cup 2026, Group G match shall begin shortly now. 

“The fact that we have played for so many years together helps us to manage the whole thing a lot better, on and off the pitch. I’d say 70-80 per cent of the team, we’ve been together for years now. All we’ve ever wanted to do was give our best for the national team. We are really like brothers, the feeling is always super nice when we spend time together in the national team. A lot of us are in contact off the pitch as well when we are not in camp and that says a lot about our relationship. Now, we want to make sure that whenever the time comes for us to leave the national team that we do it by leaving something nice for our country, to try and create history for Iranian football,” Iran forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh said. 

Just hours before kickoff against New Zealand, a Los Angeles judge upheld FIFA's ban on the pre-revolutionary flag at matches. But the flags and related apparel were nonetheless spotted inside the stadium. Ella Bah, 42, had brought extra clothing to conceal the lion-and-sun flag she wore tied around her like a dress.

Iran's participation in the World Cup, beset by challenges since the war's outbreak, has divided the U.S. diaspora, as the scene near Los Angeles showed. The national squad has become a Rorschach test of sorts, with rallygoers contending the team was synonymous with Iran's government, while the fans who filed past said they were separating soccer from politics. Southern California is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, many of whom arrived after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

How we start against IR Iran 🇳🇿⚔️🇮🇷 pic.twitter.com/f2G2CGsN6B

— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) June 16, 2026

Some cheers as the Iran IR team bus drives past on the way into the SoFi Stadium pic.twitter.com/q6QK35kOn5

— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) June 15, 2026

Abdulelah Al-Amri scored on a rebound in the 41st minute for Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay's Maxi Araujo responded with an equalizer in the 80th as the teams played to a 1-1 draw in their World Cup opener on Monday. Uruguay controlled most of the second half but didn't break through until Araujo fired a rebound past goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais from close range. La Celeste dominated possession and had 28 attempts on goal to Saudi Arabia's seven but trailed until late in the second half.

Iran's Starting XI: Alireza Beiranvand; Ramin Rezaeian, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Ali Nemati, Milad Mohammadi; Aria Yousefi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Saman Ghoddos, Mohammad Mohebi;  Mehdi Taremi, Shahriyar Moghanlou. 

Small pockets of protest against the current Iranian government outside SoFi Stadium before Iran’s World Cup opener against New Zealand. FIFA has banned Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag, but several fans said they were going to try to sneak them in. pic.twitter.com/tsBVwgfM21

— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) June 16, 2026

Iran's pre-1979 flag carries the green, white and red tricolour with a yellow lion and sun emblem at its centre. Following the Islamic Revolution, the emblem was replaced by the current Islamic symbol and Arabic script was added to the red and green bands, marking the country's transition from a monarchy to an Islamic republic.

Despite FIFA's plans to keep them out of World Cup venues, pre-revolutionary Iran flags were visible inside Levi's Stadium during Saturday's group-stage match between Qatar and Switzerland. It was reported that supporters were unfurling the flags during the first half, even though FIFA had previously indicated such symbols would fall under its restrictions on political material at the tournament.

Protesters outside Los Angeles Stadium ahead of Iran vs New Zealand. pic.twitter.com/dA6isAV07W

— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) June 15, 2026

Protests are planned outside the stadium by members of the Iranian diaspora opposed to the nation's hardline regime, and there have been threats that the Iran team could walk off the pitch if anti-government banners are displayed.

"We are here to perform a good match, a high-quality match. We don't pay attention to any of the hype and anything that goes on around us," Ghalenoei said in a press conference in response to a question from AFP.

"Naturally, all teams have their own problems, and in many countries, many things happen that have nothing to do with football. We are not political people... football is separate from politics," he added. 

Iran's coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Sunday political tensions and visa issues have damaged his side's preparations for the World Cup but insisted his players will not "pay attention to any of the hype." This will also mark the first time that a World Cup host has hosted a country with which it is at war.

This is going to be arguably the most anticipated match of FIFA World Cup 2026. Iran arrived at the tournament under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row, after the United States -- in military conflict with Iran for months -- refused to issue visas for some team support staff. 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Group G match between Iran and New Zealand at the Los Angeles Stadium. Stay tuned for all the live updates.