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Tue 16 Jun · 01:00 UTC · 03:00 CEST · Group G

full time

Iran2–2New Zealand

1896-38rating1757-5720thup 1fifa85th
M. Taremi1698talismanC. Wood1815

SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles · 70,240 seats

Missed it. It stays up.

Iran to win

home 56%draw 24% ✓away 21%

sealed Fri 12 Jun · 10:06 UTC · 12:06 CEST · nothing deleted

By The DeskScout sourced the formAnalyst reasoned the callGates clearedGrader settled it

locked Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:06:53 GMT · model elo-davidson-features-v1

The read

No prose on this one. The desk let the number do the talking. The call stands, and it goes on the record either way.

The ratings

The two strength reads behind this fixture: our results-based rating, the same forward-only engine the sealed call uses, read monthly, and FIFA's official table. Up is stronger on both lines; green is climbing, red is sliding. Context beside the call; the sealed number does not move.

Iran

ProofXI rating

1896-38 this year

1934 → 1896 · 13 readings

FIFA world rank

20thup 1 place on the latest list

20th → 20th · 6 lists

New Zealand

ProofXI rating

1757-57 this year

1814 → 1757 · 13 readings

FIFA world rank

85thheld on the latest list

87th → 85th · 6 lists

the gap on our board today: Iran by 139 points

Head to head

Iran have had the better of this fixture.

3 prior meetings · Iran 1, drawn 2, New Zealand 0 · goals 5-2

  1. 2026Iran 2-2 New Zealand· FIFA World Cup· neutral
  2. 2003Iran 3-0 New Zealand· Friendly
  3. 1973New Zealand 0-0 Iran· Friendly

source · international results feed

How we got hereWe make Iran the stronger side, and seal the call at about 6 in 10. Open for the working.openclose

The arithmetic behind the call: a rating edge, in points, mapped to a probability.

Iran rating edge+172
Home advantage0 (neutral venue)
Net edge+172

Davidson Elo→1X2 turns that +172 edge into 56% / 24% / 21% for home, draw, away.

Ratings only. Recent form and rest are not modelled for national sides.

How it could go

The same sealed edge, played as goals instead of straight to a result: our goals model runs the match score by score. The call above stands, this is its texture.

Iran

1.6

expected goals

New Zealand

1.0

expected goals

The scorelines it sees most

  • 1113 in 100
  • 1011 in 100
  • 2010 in 100
the fuller goal pictureopenclose
  • 2110 in 100

three or more goals: 48 in 100 · clean sheet: Iran 37 in 100, New Zealand 20 in 100

glassbox-goals-v1, our own goals model, run from the same ratings as the call. Frequencies, never a market.

The scorecard

  • Iran win at home.✗ wrong
  • Iran win comfortably, by two goals or more.✗ wrong
  • An open game in which both teams find the net.✓ right

The team sheets

The confirmed elevens, as named. The number beside each name is his rating on our player board, a sourced shadow signal. The sealed call above was made days before these sheets existed, and it does not move.

Iran4-4-2

  1. 1Alireza BeiranvandG1629
  2. 23Ramin RezaeianD1587
  3. 19Ali NematiD~1597 provisional
  4. 4Shoja KhalilzadehD1589
  5. 5Milad MohammadiD1606
  6. 17Aria YousefiM1579
  7. 14Saman GhoddosM1595
  8. 6Saeid EzatolahiM1588
  9. 8Mohammad MohebiM1560
  10. 20Shahriar MoghanlouF1592
  11. 9Mehdi TaremiF1698

10 of 11 starters carry folded match data on our board; the rest sit at the seed prior. We rate what we've seen.

The bench

New Zealand4-2-3-1

  1. 1Max CrocombeG1598
  2. 2Tim PayneD1535
  3. 16Finn SurmanD1539
  4. 5Michael BoxallD1497
  5. 13Liberato CacaceD1580
  6. 6Joe BellM1537
  7. 8Marko StamenićM1567
  8. 20Callum McCowattM1557
  9. 10Sarpreet SinghM1531
  10. 11Elijah JustM1569
  11. 9Chris WoodF1815

11 of 11 starters carry folded match data on our board; the rest sit at the seed prior. We rate what we've seen.

The bench

source: api-football.com · fetched Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:30:39 GMT

The timeline

The goals, assists and substitutions as they came, read straight off the match feed, by the clock. Sourced facts; the call above was sealed days before any of them.

  1. 7'E. Justgoalassist C. Wood
  2. 32'R. Rezaeiangoal
  3. 46'M. Ghaedi for A. Yousefisub
  4. 53'A. Alipour for S. Moghanlousub
  5. 54'E. Justgoalassist C. Wood
  6. 64'M. Mohebigoalassist R. Rezaeian
  7. 65'E. Hajsafi for S. Ghoddossub
  8. 68'B. Old for L. Cacacesub
  9. 68'R. Thomas for C. McCowattsub
  10. 78'C. Elliot for T. Paynesub
  11. 80'A. Hosseinzadeh for M. Taremisub
  12. 90+2'J. Randall for S. Singhsub
  13. 90+2'T. Bindon for M. Stamenicsub

source: api-football.com · fetched Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:00:13 GMT

Full time

Missed it.

Iran 2-2 New Zealand

Verdict
wrong and wrong
Claims right
1/3

The debrief

We sealed Iran to win at 56%, about 6 in 10, before kickoff. Full time said Iran 2-2 New Zealand: the draw, an outcome we had at 24 in 100.

The call missed and the reasoning went with it. Nothing here gets softened: the claims that failed are named below, and the miss goes on the record at full weight. The claims went 1 of 3.

What we got wrong, by name

  • Iran win at home.
  • Iran win comfortably, by two goals or more.

One match never grades the model, calibration is judged over the whole record, and this one is now in it.

How it moved our numbersThis result nudged our live ratings for both sides. Open for the signed moves.openclose

On the live national Elo, this result moved Iran -12 and New Zealand +12.

On our player board, the squads moved Iran -49 (13 appearances) · New Zealand +71 (16 appearances).

Our own ratings, computed from the result, a shadow signal beside the call, never one of its inputs. The sealed forecast above does not move.

THE DESK AT WORK

  1. ScoutSourced the inputsPulled both sides' ratings.
  2. AnalystWeighed the edgeNet edge +172 after home advantage; drafted 3 checkable claims.
  3. ModelMapped it to a distributionDavidson Elo→1X2 → 56/24/21 (home/draw/away).Favourite: Iran · 56%
  4. ScribeFiled the readPrepared the read behind the call.
  5. GatekeeperCleared the gatesNo betting markets · Sourced facts only · No fabricated names · Falsifiable claims, all clear.
  6. The DeskLocked the callLocked Iran v New Zealand before kickoff.

A replay of how this call was built. Real steps, paced to read. The model owns the favourite; the desk sources and explains it.

Behind the glass

The pipeline

  1. Researchinputs sourced
  2. Forecastlocked before kickoff
  3. Drafthouse template
  4. Gatesall checks passed
  5. Publishshadow
  6. Gradescored vs the result

The checks

  • No betting markets

    The call is built from football strength alone, never a bookmaker's price, as an input or anywhere on the page.

  • Sourced facts only

    Every player, squad or result fact must trace to a dated source under seven days old, or it is blocked before publish.

  • No fabricated names

    A registry blocks invented or mistaken player and team names from ever reaching the page.

  • Falsifiable claims

    Each claim on the scorecard must be checkable against the final result, no vague hedging that can't be graded.