Iran face New Zealand in World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium

It starts Tuesday against New Zealand

Iran open their seventh World Cup campaign Tuesday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, facing New Zealand in Group G (1) (2). The match kicks off a tournament where your team has never advanced past the group stage. This is the chance to change that.

Amir Ghalenoei has the squad in California ahead of the fixture (2). ZDF will broadcast the match live in Germany (3).

The backdrop remains tense. A fragile peace deal with the United States and ongoing diaspora protests in the host nation have followed the team across the Atlantic. Mehdi Taremi has been direct about it: the players are here to compete for every Iranian, whatever the noise outside.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Dennis Eckert, Mehdi Torabi, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Mohammad Mohebi and Mehdi Ghayedi are all in the squad and available for selection (1).

Fan reactions

The mood among supporters online is sober. One long read on r/soccer describes a squad weighed down by aging stars, political chaos and the strange reality of playing a World Cup on American soil while representing a nation in turmoil. There is pride in the team, but it is complicated, and the fans know it.

World Cup 2026 Preview: Iran, Chaos, Aging Stars, and the Weight of Politics