By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-06-16 01:10:04 | Updated at 2026-06-16 21:02:54
20 hours ago
Iran and New Zealand meet in the their opening clash of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Group G. Follow the match live and analyse the stats, here.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Iran vs New Zealand stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G meeting at Los Angeles Stadium on 15 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Iran vs New Zealand: Pre-Match Opta Facts
- Iran and New Zealand will meet at the FIFA World Cup for the first time. Their two previous encounters ended in a 0-0 draw (August 1973) and a 3-0 win for Iran (October 2003).
- This will be Iran’s seventh appearance at the FIFA World Cup. They are yet to progress past the first round – only Scotland (8) have made more appearances in the finals without making it past the first round.
- Iran qualified as AFC third round Group A winners ahead of Uzbekistan. Overall, they lost only one of their 16 qualifying matches – a 1-0 away defeat against Qatar.
- Iran’s only previous win in a FIFA World Cup opener came in 2018, when they beat Morocco (1-0 – D1 L4).
- Among teams to have taken part in 15+ FIFA World Cup matches, Iran have scored the fewest goals per game (0.72), while only Bulgaria have a lower win rate (11.5%, vs 16.7% for Iran). Iran’s three victories at the World Cup came in 1998 (2-1 v USA), 2018 (1-0 v Morocco) and 2022 (2-0 v Wales).
- Iran’s last eight goals at the FIFA World Cup have all been scored in the second-half, including five in added time.
- New Zealand are making their third appearance at a FIFA World Cup, after 1982 and 2010. They have so far failed to make it out of the first round or win a single match (D3 L3), although they were the only unbeaten side in the 2010 edition, with three draws.
- Only Honduras (9) and Egypt (7) have played more FIFA World Cup matches than New Zealand (6) without ever recording a win.
- Iran and New Zealand have recorded only four clean sheets combined out of 24 FIFA World Cup matches (3 in 18 for Iran, 1 in 6 for NZ).
- New Zealand qualified for the FIFA World Cup following a three-match knockout round in March 2025 – they beat New Caledonia 3-0 in the final. 2026 marks the first time OFC have been granted one guaranteed slot in the World Cup.
- Captain and all-time record New Zealand caps holder/goal scorer Chris Wood found the net more times than any other player in the Oceanian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers – nine goals in five matches. Wood was also one of three New Zealand players to start all five of their qualifiers, alongside midfielders Matthew Garbett and Marko Stamenić.
- Mehdi Taremi was directly involved in 49% of Iran’s goals in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup – he scored 10 and assisted seven of Iran’s 35 goals. He also played more minutes than any other Iranian (1,331 minutes)
Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as a preferred source by clicking here.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
