'Extremely proud': Bazeley praises All Whites but rues missed chances in Iran draw
Disappointed but proud was how coach Darren Bazeley and the All Whites came away from their 2-2 draw with Iran to kick off their 2026 World Cup campaign.
New Zealand led twice through goals from Elijah Just, but defensive mistakes allowed Iran back into the match.
Bazeley was proud of the performance, but felt the team could have done better on the night.
“Extremely proud of the players, the work rate and the performance,” Bazeley said.
“We created loads of chances, I thought we were really, really good in possession, defended pretty well for the majority and you know, we’ve come off disappointed to not win a game because we’re leading twice, scored two great goals, had some moments which was really good.
“So it’s going to hurt a little bit because we had a chance to make history tonight and win a game at a World Cup and we came really close.
Elijah Just scored twice for the All Whites against Iran. Photo / Getty Images
“But we didn’t lose, we kept in it and played really, really well, so proud.”
Double goal scorer Elijah Just echoed Bazeley’s sentiment after the game.
“It’s really, really special, you know we had a lot of goals going into this tournament, and the first was to get on the board, so one point is okay and there’s a lot of positives we can keep building on,” Just said.
“We’ve been together for a long time, we were unfortunate to miss out on the last World Cup, so being here today was such an amazing feeling.
“To start with a point, I think everyone is happy but it could’ve been better.”
The 26-year-old was ecstatic with two goals and becoming the all-time leading goal scorer for the All Whites at the World Cup.
“It’s obviously just incredible, it’s not something that I could’ve even dreamt of, I’m just so happy.
“One was nice and two is just amazing.”
The All Whites sit top of group G after their draw, thanks to Belgium and Egypt taking a point each from their game earlier in the day, but Just said the team still has a lot to do for their upcoming opponents.
“We know we have tough opponents, we all watched the Egypt-Belgium game, we all know how strong they are, so we have a lot of work to do.”
The All Whites will play Egypt at 1pm NZ time on June 22 in their next World Cup match.
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