Iranians were forced to leave America shortly after the match, nor was they allowed to spend the night there

Ghalenoei did not say who made the decision, but said the team expected to spend the night in California so that the players could go through the usual recovery process after the first tournament match. Instead, they were told after the match that they should fly to Tijuana, Mexico.

They didn't even give us time to get back. After today's match, we were told: 'You have to leave now.' It's very important for us to have time to get back, but we're being asked to get on a plane and go back to our camp in Tijuana, and that really worries us", Iran's coach said.

The Iranian national team has been through a turbulent period since 28 February, when the US and Israel launched a war against Iran. Tehran eventually decided to play in the World Cup despite the FIFA rejecting a request to shift three groups' phase matches from the United States.

Captain Mehdi Taremi said that even before they arrived at the match, the team spent five hours traveling and security checks on the normally short road between Tijuana and the large Los Angeles area.

Tarem and Ghalenoei also complained about the lack of key members of the delegation, among them the president of the Iranian Federation, a part of the expert staff and media officials, whose US did not give visas.

I think FIFA should help us more than that... In fact, everything is like a disaster for us", Tarem said.

In the first round, Iran played 2-2 against New Zealand, even though it was twice the disadvantage. Elijah Just scored at the beginning of both parts for New Zealand, while Iranians responded with the goals of Ramin Rezaean and Mohammad Mojebi, who made the score 2-2 in the 64th minute.

Iran plays the remaining against Belgium in Inglewood and Egypt in Seattle, and all four teams have one point each after the first round. /Periscope/