Between Two Beers Podcast
All Whites vs Iran: Watching History from Inside the World Cup
17 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What were the expectations for the All Whites vs Iran match?
We're here with the flying Kiwis before we take on Iran. They can't wait. We can't wait. Let's go, Kiwis!
Who do you think is going to win today? Iran. You mean think? It's obviously going to be Iran. I don't think so. I think it's going to be New Zealand. Iran's going to take this, baby. You reckon? Oh, yeah. Oh, sorry. 1-1. Are you supporting New Zealand today? Definitely. Yeah. Why? Because I'm from New Zealand! Ah, here we go. 2-5! We've got the matching shirts. You're not from New Zealand.
You're from the States. How come you've got the New Zealand shirt on?
They're the underdogs, so of course we're going to root for the underdogs. I'm supporting the Kiwis, the All Whites. Amazing. What do you know about our country? I know Carl Urban, and it's right next to Australia. We were going so well until you brought Australia into it.
I'm supporting good soccer, the goals. I love goals. Sounds like you're supporting New Zealand.
Thank you very much.
I think if you'd spoken to my wife this morning, she didn't know what outfit to wear. Being here, we're nervous energy, but we're super elated. This is crazy. You've spoken to the boy before the game? Yep, we actually had a little family do last night down in South Redondo and had a little surprise appearance. So I had a little guest appearance come in for about 20 minutes. That was awesome.
We got to see him and give him a big hug and tell him to just go out and enjoy himself. Hopefully we can get a W. A draw I'd be happy with. Anything less than that, not happy. So we're going for it.
All right, let's go, Kiwis. All white. Let's go! You know how we got the business class upgrade?
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Chapter 2: How did the atmosphere feel inside SoFi Stadium during the game?
One of the great days of my life. So happy to share it with you. Middle of the pitch. Elijah just scores two goals.
Going ballistic. So many awesome Kiwi football fans. So many awesome Kiwis here. Just a great, great day. Bring on Egypt, I say. Bring on Egypt. See you in Vancouver. Ambassadors is brought to you by the legends at Stark.
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Enjoy. Welcome to ambassadors coming to you from San Diego. You might notice a little bit of a different set. We've been here. How long we've been here, Shay? We've been here.
Been. We've been here since last week, Tuesday, which is Wednesday, New Zealand time. Our voices are gone. We've had to have the laptops up because it's all different to our home studio in Hamilton. But we are still bringing you ambassadors from the road.
Yeah, for those of you who have been following our journey, you'll know that going to the World Cup has long been a dream of ours. We're here, we're living it, we're a week in. It's an amazing experience. There is a daily Between Two Goals show on TVNZ+, which is documenting our days.
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Chapter 3: What was the significance of Eli Just's performance for New Zealand football?
I'm the fastest kid alive. And the other one is this morning. So we're back at the same hotel that you're always staying in. And I went to print out the notes for the show and Logan Rogerson comes in the door. So I'm the first one to greet him. I was like, are you just arriving? He's got his sort of suitcases. That's crazy. He's like, yeah, man. What a time to arrive. What a time to arrive.
So he's flown in as an injury replacement for Matt Garbet, who unfortunately has been ruled out of the tournament and would have been in the air during the game. So you, you bought a plane, not knowing what the result's going to be, not knowing what camp you're going to walk into and you've landed. And I would say spirits are high.
I bumped into Simon Elliott on the elevator on the way down to breakfast. He was, as we found out is Simon Elliott's way. He was pretty philosophical about yesterday's result. First words, we'll do a review. We'll see what we need to work on and what we need to improve, and then we'll go again. So the work doesn't stop here in San Diego.
I would say the overriding feeling for me was pride. I felt really proud of the team, of Baze, of just the work that's gone in to get that result. It is a great result. I know that they will have wanted more. We're going to sort of unpack it. But just, yeah, it was a great day for New Zealand football.
I spoke to a couple of the guys downstairs and they said the messages coming in from the New Zealand public have just been floods of everyone is so proud, like the momentum is building, like sort of bring on Egypt in five days. But we're going to take you through the whole journey of the whole story of the day because it was pretty epic.
Yeah, because the last time you saw us, we were top of a hotel in downtown L.A. Yeah. So where did we go from there?
Well, we went up the Flying Kiwis is an organization led by a guy called Matt Fijos. And he organized hundreds of Kiwis to meet up at this bar, about a 15 minute walk from the stadium in L.A. And it was epic.
like we got there at about 11 30 um they started playing the kiwi tunes there was singing there was dancing we did a like a to camera open that you saw at the start of the show um the vibe was just so good it's like when everyone's on holiday together and everyone's just going for the same cause i think me and frosty were on the beers from about midday you guys you guys did the same thing you wallflowered again like you did it at new zealand council we were just loving
And I was, I was, I was working the room because there were so many familiar faces, football faces. They booked the top level of Tom's watch is the bar. And it was a three level bar. And we only realized that as we left. So the top, the top was ticketed, but I'm pretty sure it was like any party that you organize in New Zealand and somebody knows somebody and all of a sudden everybody is there.
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Chapter 4: How did the match unfold after the first goal?
But not only that, the second floor was full of New Zealand shirts. Even the ground floor was full of New Zealand shirts. And as we were leaving, the official New Zealand football delegation were arriving as well in numbers.
It was literally like anybody attached to the New Zealand team was there, which meant when we got to the stadium and tried to do some to cameras, we couldn't get any Kiwi accents. Where are they all? Oh, yeah, that's right. They were all Kiwis with American accents.
but i'm getting ahead of myself yeah so so we got a uh we got a message uh sort of i don't know about one or two o'clock that uh we were gonna have access to go on to the halfway like into the semi uh the halfway circle at in the pre-match warm-up and do some recording
yeah so i was like whoa what yeah can i pick up this because like i i've i've done tournaments as a fifa media officer and like this was completely out like foreign to me as a concept so we get a message back home from tvnz to say we've secured you guys center circle access for the warm-up and i'm racking my brain trying to think what does that even mean and as i then frantically started trying to connect with people at the stadium to work it out
Yeah, you get walked down onto the field of play while the teams are warming up. And it was like, even for me, that was completely out of left field and something that I never, ever expected to happen.
But the message was like, we might be going on live with TVNZ because Zion was there. He was going to be doing his thing. He wasn't quite sure how much time they'd have and whether we'd be included in it. So we went along. We went early. Yeah, we went early, but we did a sort of a pre-record with him in case something went wrong with the live. He's ended up using it.
Anyway, I'll get to that soon. But on the walk, so we had to leave early. So we left the group behind us and we walked to the stadium and it was just us and Iranian fans. Iranian fans. Iranian fans. Still getting mixed up on that. Us and Iranian fans. So we were the only Kiwis. And so we did some sort of like little interviews on the way. Some vox pops on the way.
And yeah, some fascinating conversations. They incredibly encouraging of the team. They wanted Iran to win. They didn't like Iran.
the iran they didn't like the regime uh and it was this message of like can we can football sort of like bring people together it's a really complicated dynamic um but in general like the spirits that everyone was it was so lovely yeah like that they were such great people i think we did four or five chats and there was always like a little bit of back and forth banter i was like yeah but new zealand's gonna win no
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Chapter 5: What emotions did the hosts experience during the game?
having worked in football, I would love to have been on the team side together with a team that represents New Zealand and being part, like really being part of that inner sanctum. This was the next best thing. So exchanging glances with some of the staff, like a Wade Maloney, who's the team manager, or Roland Jeffrey, who's the physio, was a really nice moment to be attached, but not attached.
you were you were there with a team frosty frosty was up in the uh stands shooting you know shooting his angle from the sideline um so yeah but but i thought but i think that the real moment that drove it home and the part that when i got a little bit emotional was as we were walking off darren basely the coach made a beeline towards us to slap hands and give us a hug on the pitch as well which for me meant a hell of a lot because i've known that guy for a long long time
And, yeah, it was nice. I mean, yeah, really, really nice to just have that moment and just whisper, you know, enjoy it. This is amazing. You deserve it. It was really cool.
Yeah. I was after you. I can't remember what I said. I was so fired up. I was like, come on, Baze. Come on, Baze, you've got this. You've got something like that.
You've prepared all this time for this. Look at all these fucking guys. Yeah, the last two words you might hear from a couple of people is like whispering in your ear, whispering sweet nothings of like rubbish in your ear before the biggest game ever run.
God damn.
you deserve this base. Enjoy every moment.
He's going, why don't you get off the pitch, Dickie? I remember we made eyes with Wade, who's the team manager, as we're walking out. And he gave us this look like,
are you guys doing in there wait he signaled to me he's like get your head in the game I'm just like oh what are we doing here so we rush back to our seats and we get there it's perfect it's like we get there like 10 minutes before the game starts yeah and we're sitting in amongst the All Whites families so we had Tyler Bindon's mum and dad next to us we had Callan Elliott's parents behind us Tim Brown was kind of a row over we saw Reece Darby it was like the sort of the All Whites contingent like yeah great seats and it's like oh my
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Chapter 6: What were the reactions to the final 2-2 scoreline?
It didn't happen at all. And we got to halftime at 1-1 and I was thinking like we would have taken this before the game, 1-1 at halftime and playing like we did, we knew we were going to create more chances. So it was kind of a bit of a mixture. You've given away a lead, but we're still in this. We are equal with them. You know, like, let's go.
And then second half starts and we sort of find our flow a little bit. And then we go up again. Eli just with his second. And this is another beautiful move. Like the two great goals from open play. And again, just like wild, you know, I'm not normally that guy, but it just spilled out of both of us.
Yeah, we'd change seats and I was kind of by the aisle and one of the world feed cameramen was like right there with a big camera and he kind of like zoomed in and I saw the camera and I just went, absolutely giving it everything into it. I don't know if it made the world feed or not, but again, the voice was completely gone at that moment.
Yeah. And so Eli just became the first player to score two goals for New Zealand at a World Cup and to do it in one game. Like what an absolute dream for for him and for his family and for his career. Like he's had such a good season at Motherwell, who's the player of the year. He came in so highly touted by so many. But I don't think New Zealand fans had seen that performance from him before.
And like, can you just imagine like the bus on the ride back to your hotel? And like, oh, my God, I've scored two goals.
Yeah, our first World Cup. Yeah, it was it was. Yeah. What a moment. What a moment for him. I remember because we watched the U.S. game a few days ago as well, and I forget the U.S. striker's name that scored two goals, but we were sitting there going, oh, what a moment for him. He's just like sorted himself out.
And then you've got a Kiwi now on the golden boot tally as well, and Elijah Just sitting there with two goals from one game. Crazy.
And again, so the rollercoaster continues. Iran equalize again with a brilliant header, as we said. It's pinpoint delivery, and it gets high, and it's posting in. And I wasn't the same ā I didn't feel that same sense of deflation after the first one because at that point the game had gone far enough that I knew we were as good as them, like it could go either way.
But that, oh, my God, we've given up another lead. What if we go on to lose this? You know, that like ā I felt really nervous for the last, whatever, 20 minutes after that.
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Chapter 7: How does this match impact New Zealand's World Cup journey?
Yeah, it's crazy. It just sits on his chest and then he sort of like does what he wants with it. Yeah. And when you are playing at a high level, you need that outlet to hold it up and we've got it in Woodsy. And also he looks dangerous. You know, there's a few times when he nearly got a shot off, you know, he's always looking likely to score.
Like again, this is football nerd stuff, but like when he drifts away from that kind of middle of the pitch into space and creates so much space for others to follow and seeing it in person was... Yeah, he was special. Get us to the Egypt game.
Yeah, it does feel like that. And yeah, so with those two up front, you know, we're going to score like two goals from open play for the All Whites. Yeah, it's great. We went searching for a winner. We're proud. So then the game ends and we celebrated. We did. I thought by the end, 2-2 was a good result for us. It was still quite kind of like... riding high on the emotions.
You know, there was a part of me that thought if we concede late, like what is that going to mean for the next two weeks across the board? And when we got to full time, it was like, right, okay, we've got a base here to work from. And then we sprung into interview mode.
So as I mentioned, Tim Brown was sitting like just across the row from us and was like, look, it'd be great to get a post-match chat with Tim. So I rustled over, I'm going to play the interview for you soon. But that was really cool. That was raw emotion.
And we were both kind of like hugging as we were chatting and just like, this is a really special, like both realized, obviously this is such a special night for New Zealand football. And then we were kind of scampering and we tried to get, you know, a bunch of others. We got, we spoke to Richard Bell, Joe Bell's dad and Jenny Binden.
It was Finn Sermon's dad and Eli Just's family and Callan Elliott's. And we're going to play some of them for you soon. But that was cool as well. Just like experiencing the afterglow
Yeah, just a footnote on Jenny Bindon, Tyler Bindon's dad. So Tyler came on late in the game as a substitute. And in doing so, they became the first mother and son to play at FIFA World Cup. So Jenny Bindon, former Football Ferns goalkeeper, and her son Tyler. That is a crazy statistic. Mm-hmm. Like father-son, yep, you've seen.
I don't think there's been a mother-daughter, but I'd need to check that. But mother-son at a World Cup is like, that is an incredible story. I was trying in those moments just to, like, I feel proud because I know some of those players. Like Callan Elliott, you know, I've seen him since he was 17. So I feel a sense of pride. But when the parents are behind, and his partner as well.
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Chapter 8: What are the upcoming challenges for the All Whites in the tournament?
That was when, that was the moment when I actually text them afterwards. Yeah.
Special shout out to Frosty, who is just an absolute machine on this trip. So,
all of the video footage at the start all of the stuff that's been overlaid over this was frosty it just works like a madman he's always just looking for the angles and looking for the reaction and like it's it's really hard when you're when it's just me and you to like we're not very good at it sort of like filming ourselves and capturing content when you've got someone there who's just got that in mind man it's so cool and this is why we've got so much great footage
And then on that 90-minute Uber, he's just got a laptop and he's just editing all the pieces together.
Well, you know why? Because when we were on the pitch for that two hours, he was at the concession stand. And I think his hunger levels going into that, they were probably at about 200%. And then I think what happened was he oversubscribed to the point where he didn't need the hot dogs at the end of the day. He was probably at about 400% capacity. He didn't learn his lesson from BJ's.
We're definitely going there tonight for dinner, aren't we?
Yeah, it's a big day of recording for us today. We're actually doing a Between Two Bears podcast recording this afternoon with a really interesting guest who's here in America. And then we fly to Vancouver. So we're packing all of this up and we sort of fly to Vancouver tomorrow. I'm going to miss this place. You know we don't fly tomorrow. Oh, don't we?
The studio flies tomorrow and we fly on Thursday. All right.
We're here for another couple of nights. I won't say my goodbyes quite yet. We're packing down the studio tonight.
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