All Whites answer ‘big what-if’ with English Premier League star Chris Wood at his selfless best in draw with Iran
Wednesday, 17 June 2026
All Whites captain Chris Wood played a selfless role as his side began their FIFA World Cup campaign with a 2-2 draw against Iran.
The English Premier League striker is normally the scorer of goals.
But as he made his World Cup return after 16 years away, he was happy being the assister for both of Eli Just’s.
Wood impressed with strong hold-up play in a match that started with him as the only Kiwi on the field possessing any World Cup experience.
Chris Wood stood alone amongst the 11 All Whites on the field at SoFi Stadium as their first FIFA World Cup match in 16 years kicked off on Monday night in Los Angeles (Tuesday NZ time).
By the end of their 2-2 draw with Iran that left group G wide open, 15 of the English Premier League star’s team-mates had gained valuable experience of a kind only he and unused substitute Tommy Smith had beforehand.
Those All Whites have now played in a World Cup match – and done their country proud on the biggest stage possible, getting a result that has kept their chances of advancing to the knockout rounds – their stated goal – alive.
They could have taken a bigger step forward had they held on to the leads they took in either half, courtesy of two weak-foot finishes from midfielder Eli Just that captain Wood played a big part in setting up.
But when this was the first outing for so many of these players at this level, they were justified in coming away brimming with confidence – but also feeling the pain of conceding two equalisers, which will give them plenty of fresh motivation as their focus turns to Egypt.
“I think we'll take a lot of confidence,” Wood said of his side’s performance, after captaining them at a World Cup for the first time and rising to the occasion superbly himself. “I think the boys acquitted themselves and handled themselves extremely well.
“That was the big what-if, and they've done it extremely well today. I think we can take a lot of confidence out of that, build on it and then go for Egypt.”
That sentiment was echoed by midfielder Ryan Thomas, one of five All Whites to make their World Cup debuts off the bench in the second half.
“We only had one player on the pitch that has experienced the World Cup and that was Woodsy, so it was big, obviously, for us to see how everyone would step up in that moment, and playing at such a big stadium, in front of a full stadium.
“It was nice to see the boys step up. Maybe we're a little bit disappointed with only a draw after going up twice, but hopefully we can pull through in the next games.”
When Stuff asked Wood ahead of the tournament about the prospect of scoring a World Cup goal, he made it clear it was an ambition of his – but in the same breath he showed the selflessness that makes him such a great team-mate.
“I want to do more than that,” he said. “I want to play well for this team and bring everybody else in.”
Iran often double-teamed Wood and were on him in a flash whenever the ball landed at his feet, rightly identifying him as the All Whites’ biggest threat, but as he said afterwards: “That's going to happen.
“I'll have to keep working hard to find a way through, but as long as it gives a chance to other people, that's all that matters.”
That was exactly what happened with both of Just’s goals. Wood said it was “nice to be the assister for once” on “two unbelievable finishes, both on his weak foot”.
The short-passing move that led to the first goal began with Wood receiving a long goal kick, then setting Just off with a perfectly-timed pass after holding the ball up.
He got the ball back from Sarpreet Singh as the All Whites entered the box, dropping it to Just who took a touch with his left than rocketed the ball home with his right.
The second goal came after Joe Bell won the ball on halfway and launched an attack that had Just running towards the box up the right, with Wood in the middle, perfectly positioned to receive the ball and give it back.
Wood has spoken regularly throughout his career about wanting to get back to the World Cup, after making three appearances off the bench in the All Whites’ three draws in South Africa in 2010.
He said it was great to be back at an event he described as “a different animal”.
“It's great to be a part of it. It's worldwide … the biggest stage in the world. These are bigger games than everything else.”
Wood and the All Whites were having a recovery day on Tuesday local time in San Diego, then were set to have a day off on Wednesday before resuming training ahead of their match with Egypt on Sunday evening in Vancouver (kickoff 1pm Monday NZ time).
The African nation began their campaign by drawing 1-1 with Belgium in Seattle on Monday. Like the All Whites, they are still searching for their first World Cup win.
Belgium and Iran meet in Los Angeles earlier that day so New Zealand will know the ramifications of all three possible results on the group standings come kickoff.