From The Sports Desk: Four World Cup games, four tightly contested draws on Monday

World CupFrom The Sports Desk: Four World Cup games, four tightly contested draws on Monday It was the first time since 1958 that four World Cup games on the same day all ended in ties. Also, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Lionel Messi all begin competition today.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Chris Wood of New Zealand controls the ball against Shoja Khalilzadeh of Iran during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match on Monday.Jamie Squire / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 16, 2026, 12:30 PM EDTBy David HickeyThe last time four World Cup matches on the same day ended in a tie, Pelé was the 17-year-old breakout star and Frenchman Just Fontaine went on to score a tournament-record 13 goals. That was 1958. Iran didn’t enter that competition but began its troubled 2026 World Cup campaign with one of those ties, 2-2 against New Zealand. Iran’s coach said his team was ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after the match.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Looking ahead, if there’s a modern-day equivalent to Fontaine, it might be the prolific Kylian Mbappé. The Real Madrid star, who scored a hat trick in the last final, opens his campaign when France faces Senegal today.World Cup RecapFor all of the focus on geopolitics before Iran-New Zealand, on the pitch, the Group G matchup was a back-and-forth roller coaster, with Team Melli showing spirit to rally twice from behind in front of fierce Los Angeles support. Nonetheless, coach Amir Ghalenoei will be disappointed to tie against a team ranked 65 places lower in FIFA’s rankings. Elijah Just, who plays for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, netted a brace, becoming the first New Zealand player to score more than one goal in a World Cup game.If Iran’s opener was the most newsworthy game of the World Cup so far, then Cape Verde-Spain was the most surprising. World Cup debutants...