Iran take on a New Zealand in this must-win group G encounter in Los Angeles.

New Zealand, ranked 85th in the world according to FIFA, lost 4-0 to Haiti in a recent June friendly, before suffering a 1-0 defeat to England.

Iran, in contrast, won each of their last three friendlies, including a 5-0 win over Costa Rica in March.

Belgium and Egypt, the two other teams in Group G, played out a 1-1 draw earlier.

Kick-off is at 02:00 BST.

TEAM NEWS

Star striker Mehdi Taremi ($6.1m), with 10 goals and seven assists in qualifying, leads the line for Iran. The 33-year-old Olympiacos forward is on penalties and direct free-kicks and also scored four times in four friendlies leading up to the competition.

Ex-Brentford player Saman Ghoddos ($4.9m), who hit this belter against Burnley back in October 2023, lines-up in midfield.

For New Zealand, all-time leading goalscorer Chris Wood ($6.5m) will be looking to add to his 45 goals for his country. The Nottingham Forest striker spent most the of 2025/26 campaign on the sidelines but returned to fitness before the end of the season, netting against Sunderland and Aston Villa.

A budget-friendly backline includes corner-taking Tim Payne ($3.6m), who earns his 53rd international cap.

LINE-UPS

Iran XI: Alireza Beiranvand, Ramin Rezaeian, Ali Nemati, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Milad Mohammadi, Arya Yousefi, Saman Ghoddos, Saeed Ezatolahi, Mohammad Mohebi, Shahriar Moghanlou, Mehdi Taremi

Subs: P. Niazmand, H. Hosseini, S. Hardani, E. Hajsafi, A. Jahanbakhsh, M. Ghayedi, A. Alipour, H. Kanaani, R. Cheshmi, M. Torabi, A. Hosseinzadeh, M. Ghorbani, D. Eckert, D. Eiri, A. Razzaghinia

New Zealand XI: Max Crocombe, Tim Payne, Finn Surman, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Joe Bell, Marko Stamenić, Callum McCowatt, Sarpreet Singh, Elijah Just, Chris Wood

Subs: A. Paulsen, M. Woud, F. de Vries, T. Bindon, A. Rufer, N. Pijnaker, K. Barbarouses, B. Waine, B. Old, J. Randall, R. Thomas, C. Elliot, L. Bayliss, T. Smith