The Iranian national team left the United States immediately after the end of the World Cup match with New Zealand

The Iranian national team left the United States immediately after the end of the match of the first round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup against the New Zealand team. This was announced on June 16 by journalist Romain Molina.

"Iran was forced to leave the United States immediately after the draw with New Zealand, although the team planned to spend the night in Los Angeles and leave later the same day after a recovery training session," Molina wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

The meeting between the national teams of Iran and New Zealand ended with a score of 2:2. Despite the departure to Mexico, the Iranian team will play all subsequent group stage games in the United States. As part of the tournament, the national team has yet to face rivals from Belgium and Egypt, clarifies "Газета.Ru ".

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President of the International Football Federation Gianni Infantino visited the locker room of the Iranian national team after the first match of the team at the World Cup and addressed the players. He noted that the match was difficult and with more luck the team could have won. He stressed that Iran has two more games ahead in which players will be able to show a decent level again and "make the world proud of themselves."