Iran draw 2–2 with New Zealand as Torabi's visa expires

Iran fight back twice to draw 2–2 with New Zealand

Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi rescued a point after Elijah Just scored twice for New Zealand in the Group G opener (1). Your team went behind early, then again after the break, and both times they clawed back. "We're facing more hurdles, but we're not going to let that stop us from doing our best," Amir Ghalenoei said afterwards (1).

Iran now sit top of Group G with one point. Not the smoothest start, but the response when trailing twice tells you something about this squad.

Infantino visits the dressing room, Ghalenoei fires back on visas

FIFA president Gianni Infantino went into Iran's dressing room after the match with a message about peace and the power of football (2). Ghalenoei did not play along. His response was blunt, visa problems are the real story, and he made that clear (2).

Mehdi Torabi's US visa has already expired. He was issued a single-entry visa while the rest of the squad got multiple-entry permits (2). That means a player who just featured in your World Cup opener might not be able to play the next match.

Fan-reaktioner

Fans are zeroing in on the visa chaos. The Torabi story is spreading fast, an Iranian international's US visa expiring mid-tournament is exactly the kind of off-field mess supporters feared. A lighter note: a TRT commentator apparently mistook New Zealand for Iran for four full minutes during the broadcast, which at least gave people something to laugh about. Read more on r/soccer