Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Elijah Just revelled in the “special” feeling of scoring at the World Cup but admitted he was disappointed New Zealand only walked away with one point against Iran.
The All Whites led twice in the match but were pegged back at 2-2 as both of Just’s goals were cancelled out.
Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi got the equalisers for Iran, who denied New Zealand their first-ever win at a World Cup.
In fact, New Zealand have recorded a draw in each of their last four World Cup matches, after losing all three of their games in the tournament prior to that span.
Just became the first player to score more than once for New Zealand in a World Cup match, and he is looking to take the positives after they moved top of Group G, with all four teams on one point.
“It is a memory that’ll last me for the rest of my life,” Just said.
“Obviously incredible. It’s not something I could have even dreamt of, so I’m just so happy. One was nice, so two was amazing.
“It is really, really special. We have a lot of goals coming into this tournament, and the first was to get on the board, so one point is okay.
“There are a lot of positives we can keep building on.
“We were unfortunate to miss out on the last World Cup, so being here was such an amazing feeling and, to start with a point, I think everybody is happy, but coming into the tournament our goal was to get out the group, so we’re almost a little disappointed because it could have been three points.”
The points are shared at full-time pic.twitter.com/1Z1i9uy2LJ
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) June 16, 2026
New Zealand were, however, dealt a blow in the build-up to the match as it was confirmed that midfielder Matt Garbett has been ruled out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury.
As for Iran, they have now avoided defeat in their opening match of three of their last four World Cup tournaments (W1 D2), losing only to England 2-6 in the first game of their 2022 campaign.
This was also the third time in their last four matches at the tournament that Iran have scored more than one goal; they had done so only once in all of their 15 World Cup games beforehand.
It was a big result for Iran, who could have snatched a late winner as they upped the pressure and head coach Amir Ghalenoei believes they helped put on a show.
“We’re facing more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best,” Ghalenoei said.
“I think today was one of the best games in the World Cup so far, and I think the fans really enjoyed it inside the stadium and outside the stadium.”
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