Iran vs New Zealand confirmed teams and full lineups, TV channel, online live streaming and stats
Iran and New Zealand have named their starting squads as both countries begin their 2026 World Cup campaigns in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The Melli team never progressed to the group stage, losing quickly in each of the last three fixtures.
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The All Whites are looking for their first victory in the finals in their seventh World Cup, although they beat Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay in the 2010 tournament, losing in three games in 1982.
This match is the second in Group G, which started when Belgium faced Egypt on Monday.
Our captain speaks on the eve of our return to the men’s FIFA World Cup 🇳🇿🏆 pic.twitter.com/R8Dd9Mcv8s
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) June 15, 2026
2026 World Cup: Iran confirmed team against New Zealand
Captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh, a former Eredivisie top scorer and Brighton & Hove Albion club-record £17 million signing, has struggled against Belgian side Dender but is fit enough to start from the bench.
Defender or midfielder Roozbeh Cheshmi will not play in the final due to a hamstring injury.
Striker Sardar Azmoun – the country’s third-highest scorer in history, with 57 goals in 91 games – was left out of the squad after reports that he had offended the Iranian government by posting a picture of himself with UAE ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Instagram in March.
Iran starting XI: Beiranvand; and Khalilzade, and Mohammadi, and Yousefi, and Nemati, and Rezaeian; Ezatolahi, Mohebbi, Ghoddos; Taremi, Moghanloo
Positions of Iran: Niazmand, Hosseini, Harddani, Hajisafi, Kanani, Iri, Jahanbakhsh, Cheshmi, Torabi, Ghorbani, Razaghinia, Ghayedi, Alipour, Hosseinzadeh, Dargahi
2026 World Cup: New Zealand to face Iran
New Zealand midfielder Matthew Garbett, of England’s third-tier club Peterborough United, has been ruled out after straining a muscle in training.
Record 45-goal scorer Chris Wood returned from a serious knee injury at Nottingham Forest in April and played most of New Zealand’s defeat to England and preceded the 4-0 loss to Haiti.
Tim Payne missed two months of the season with a broken collarbone and has been hampered by two minor hamstring problems since then, but the 32-year-old defender made an appearance in those friendlies, as did former Bayern Munich player Sarpreet Singh, who suffered a serious knee injury in February.
New Zealand starting XI: Crocodile; Payne, Boxall, Cacace, Surman; Bell, Stamenic, Singh, Just, McCowatt, Wood
New Zealand instead of: Paulsen, Woud, De Vries, Bindon, Pijnaker, Elliot, Smith, Rufer, Old, Thomas, Bayliss, Barbarouses, Waine, Randall
Where to watch Iran vs New Zealand: TV channel, live streaming online
Kick-off on Tuesday is at 02:00 BST (21:00 ET / 18:00 PT). In the UK, broadcast live on BBC One.
Fans can stream the action on a huge range of devices via the BBC iPlayer app and the BBC Sport website.
World Cup 2026: Iran vs New Zealand stats
- It is the seventh time that Iran has played in the World Cup, and only Scotland (8) has played more games in the finals without advancing.
- Among the teams that participated in the least number of World Cup matches, Iran scored the fewest goals per game (0.72), while only Bulgaria had a lower win rate (11.5%, vs 16.7% for Iran)
- Iran scored six goals in the last two World Cups in 2018 and 2022, five of which came in second-half extra time.
- Unbeaten in 24 home games in qualifying (W20 D4); longest streak in their history, surpassing the 18-game streak between 1993 and 2004
- Mehdi Taremi was directly involved in 49% of Iran’s goals in qualifying, scoring 10 and assisting seven of 35.
- Amir Ghalenoei is in his first World Cup as a coach and is the third Iranian to lead his country in this tournament, following Heshmat Mohajerani (1978) and Jalal Talebi (1998).
- New Zealand’s three draws made them the only team unbeaten at the 2010 World Cup
- Only Honduras (9) and Egypt (7) have played more World Cup matches than New Zealand (6) have won
- They qualified following a three-match qualifying round in March 2025, beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the final to take the opportunity to secure Oceania’s first place at the World Cup.
- Captain Chris Wood was the top scorer in the Oceanian division in the qualifiers, netting nine times in five games.
- Darren Bazeley starts playing again in the World Cup. The England man won the 2024 OFC Nations Cup with New Zealand and is the third All Whites captain in a World Cup, behind John Adshead (1982) and Ricki Herbert (2010).
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