On the evening of the 15th local time (Tuesday morning Malaysian time), in the first round of Group G at the USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup held at the Los Angeles stadium, Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand. At the post-match press conference, Iran’s head coach Ghalenoei stated that the team was suddenly ordered to leave the United States immediately. Previously, there had been reports saying that the Iranian national team had been allowed to stay overnight in the US during World Cup matches.
Ghalenoei did not disclose who issued the order for the Iranian team to leave early. The team had originally planned to stay overnight in California so as to recover as much as possible after the first match of the World Cup, but after the match, they were suddenly informed that everyone must immediately board a plane and return to their base located in Tijuana, Mexico, 140 miles (about 225 km) away.
“They didn't even give us time to recover (physically),” Ghalenoei said through a translator. “After today’s match ended, they informed us, ‘You must leave immediately.’ For us, having time to recover is very important, (but) we were asked to fly back to our base in Tijuana, and this has caused us a lot of distress.”
Ghalenoei also added that he believes Iran might be “the most oppressed team at the World Cup.”
In addition, Iranian striker Taremi also stated after the match, “We now have to leave Los Angeles, which is very disadvantageous for us.” Taremi said, “I think FIFA should provide us with more help... (but) in reality, for us, everything feels like a disaster.”
According to the schedule, Iran’s three group matches will all take place in the United States: on the 15th and 21st local time in Los Angeles against New Zealand and Belgium, respectively, and on the 26th in Seattle against Egypt.