Group G · FIFA World Cup 2026
Iran vs New Zealand
Iran vs New Zealand at FIFA World Cup 2026. Tue, Jun 16, 01:00 AM UTC. SoFi Stadium.
Kickoff
Venue
SoFi Stadium
Inglewood
Capacity
70,240
Match facts
Group G · Iran – New Zealand · Kickoff · SoFi Stadium, Inglewood.
Final score: IRN 2–2 NZL. Pre-kickoff model favorite: IRN 62% — miss. Scored in the public AI track record.
Updated · Not betting advice.
AI Post-Match Analysis
Full-time fact packScore: 2–2AI data updated:
Multi-model consensus
2 of 2 models agreeFacts favour the home side
One-sided profileDecisive factor: Elo gap 217 points
Data comparison
Elo ratingΔ 230
Iran
1764
New Zealand
1534
FIFA ranking: #28 vs #97
Head-to-head
2 previous meetings: 1 win – 1 draw – 0 wins
Last meeting: 2003-10-123-0· Friendly
Source: eloratings.net — descriptive strength rating, not a prediction
Key players — Iran
- Mehdi Taremi · Offence — Mehdi Taremi is listed as Offence; roster age 33; DOB 1992-07-18.
- Alireza Jahanbakhsh · Offence — Alireza Jahanbakhsh is listed as Offence; roster age 32; DOB 1993-08-11.
- Saeid Ezatolahi · Midfield — Saeid Ezatolahi is listed as Midfield; roster age 29; DOB 1996-10-01.
Key players — New Zealand
- Chris Wood · Offence — Chris Wood is listed as Offence; roster age 34; DOB 1991-12-07.
- Sarpreet Singh · Midfield — Sarpreet Singh is listed as Midfield; roster age 27; DOB 1999-02-20.
- Liberato Cacace · Defence — Liberato Cacace is listed as Defence; roster age 25; DOB 2000-09-27.
Tactical angle
Match status: ft; score IRN 2-2 NZL. This post-match update covers Iran (IRN) and New Zealand (NZL). Elo lists IRN at 1764 and NZL at 1534, a 230 point gap. Roster data lists IRN with 26 players at average age 29.8, and NZL with 26 players at average age 27.7.
What to watch
- • Match status: ft; score IRN 2-2 NZL for IRN vs NZL.
- • Venue: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, USA.
- • Scheduled UTC: 2026-06-16T01:00:00Z.
Fact box
- • Scheduled UTC: 2026-06-16T01:00:00Z.
- • Status: ft / IRN 2-2 NZL
- • Match status: ft; score IRN 2-2 NZL for IRN vs NZL.
- • Venue: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, USA.
- • FIFA ranks: IRN 28, NZL 97.
deepseek-v4-pro]✓ kimi-k2.5]eloratings.net · football-data.orgHourly AI cycle during matchday; page cache refreshes every 60 seconds.
Generated from verified structured match data and cross-checked by a second model. Informational only — no predictions, no betting advice.
Kickoff time by timezone
GoalPulse keeps the canonical fixture time in UTC, then renders venue local time and UTC+8 for Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur searchers.
Venue local time
America/Los_Angeles
Local stadium time, generated with the venue IANA timezone rather than the server timezone.
UTC+8 time
Asia/Shanghai
Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur all use UTC+8 during the tournament window, so the clock time is identical.
Canonical UTC
UTC
Canonical source timestamp used by schema, datasets and downstream feeds.
Iran local time
Asia/Tehran
Primary home-market time for Iran; useful when team-country time differs from venue, UTC or UTC+8.
New Zealand local time
Pacific/Auckland
Primary home-market time for New Zealand; useful when team-country time differs from venue, UTC or UTC+8.
Match quick answers
When is Iran vs New Zealand?
Iran vs New Zealand finished 2-2 after the Tue, Jun 16, 01:00 AM UTC kickoff. Venue local time is Mon, Jun 15, 2026, 06:00 PM PDT; UTC+8 time for Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur is Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 09:00 AM GMT+8. Team-local checks: Iran local time: Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 04:30 AM GMT+3:30; New Zealand local time: Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 01:00 PM GMT+12.GoalPulse keeps the final score, match status and source-backed fixture links on this page.
Where is Iran vs New Zealand played?
The match is played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, United States, a venue with capacity for 70,240 supporters.
What stage is this match?
This is a group stage match in Group G of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The top two teams in the group and the eight best third-placed teams advance to the Round of 32.
What are the FIFA rankings and coaches?
Iran are FIFA-ranked #28 and coached by Amir Ghalenoei. New Zealand are FIFA-ranked #97 and coached by Darren Bazeley.
Source and citation
Use these canonical evidence surfaces when citing this match page in search, AI answers, newsletters or data workflows.
Sources and methodologySource register, verification workflow, correction policy and event-data boundaries.Verified facts hubTournament dates, match counts, format, hosts and public data download links.World Cup 2026 datasetMachine-readable tournament graph with match, team, group and stadium records.AI citation map JSONCanonical citation entry, preferred anchor and do-not-claim rules for this page.
Match preview
Iran face New Zealand in the group stage Group G of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. The match kicks off at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, United States, a venue with a capacity of 70,240.
Iran enter as the higher-ranked side (FIFA #28) against New Zealand (#97). The a wide ranking gap between the two sides is 69 places. This is a cross-confederation clash: AFC vs OFC.
Iran are coached by Amir Ghalenoei, while New Zealand are led by Darren Bazeley. Both managers have shaped distinct identities for their squads in the build-up to North America 2026.
In Group G, only the top two teams advance directly to the round of 32, with the third-placed team competing for one of the eight best third-place spots across all 12 groups. A result here can shape the group quickly because the expanded format leaves less recovery margin than a simple top-two table.
FIFA World Cup 2026 is the first edition with 48 teams, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July 2026. A total of 104 matches will be played, the highest in tournament history.
