The Iranian national team finally got to just play soccer.
Their journey to the World Cup has been uniquely fraught, with a war erupting between the host of their matches and their home country.
They had to relocate their base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, struggled to get all of their traveling party into the United States amid visa scrutiny and absorbed President Trump’s suggestion they may not be safe if they chose to play in the World Cup.
With the focus shifted solely to soccer, Iran’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand in front of an announced crowd of 70,108 Monday night at SoFi Stadium may have felt like a victory because of the sheer fight it took for Team Melli to play in Inglewood.
After Belgium and Egypt tied 1-1 earlier Monday, all the teams in Group G are tied at one point apiece.
The All Whites showed no signs they were rattled by the pro-Iran crowd or their standing 65 slots behind Iran in FIFA world rankings.
Iran fell behind twice, but the team rallied to avoid plummeting to the bottom of its group.
A flurry of chances generated by both teams during stoppage time never translated into a game winner.
New Zealand struck first.
Elijah Just rumbled toward the box and seemed to pinball around the Iranian defense. He passed to Sarpreet Singh, who chipped the ball to Chris Wood in the box. Wood then chested the ball back to Just, who took one touch before kicking the ball in for New Zealand’s first goal in the seventh minute.
A small but hearty contingent of New Zealand cheered.
After the hydration break, Iran’s Ramin Rezaeian pushed the ball into the box and tapped it to Saman Ghoddos. Shahriyar Moghanlou’s shot was blocked, but Rezaeian was in position to tap the deflection into the far lower left corner of the net in the 32nd minute.
The stadium roared as Mexico fans joined Iran fans cheering and waving flags.
Both teams has chances to break the tie late in the first half.
New Zealand earned a free kick in the 45th minute just outside the box. Wood took a direct shot at the goal, but Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand gathered it with ease.
During first-half stoppage time, Rezaeian’s free kick was headed home by Ali Nemati, but Nemati was clearly offsides and the goal was waived off by the referees.
In the 54th minute, Iran turned the ball over and Just connected with Just for his second goal of the match.
Iran responded in the 64th minute with Rezaeian’s cross headed home by Mohammad Mohebi, tying the game and delighting fans.
Before the game, protesters outside SoFi Stadium argued Iran’s oppression regime should be sanctioned for human rights violations and banned from competition. Other Iranian Americans countered they gathered at the venue to cheer on players rather than Iran’s totalitarian leaders.
Iran captain and star striker Mehdi Taremi said before the game he hoped the team that has unified in the face of massive distractions could provide solace during a difficult time.
“We, the players of the national team, we play for every Iranian, be it the Iranian diaspora or be it Iranians in the country,” Taremi said through a FIFA interpreter. “Look, in every country, people have different opinions, but we are here as footballers to unite people, and we will try to bring joy to all Iranians, irrespective of where they live.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and we respect them, but we are here to bring joy to the Iranian people. We do not get involved in politics. We are here to play football.”
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