European powerhouse Belgium, who was reduced to 10 men on 66 minutes, earned a goalless draw with Asian giant Iran in the second round match of FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G here on Sunday.
In the first round matches of Group G, Belgium was held 1-1 by Egypt, and Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand.
This is the first time that the two sides met each other in a World Cup. Both Iran keeper Alireza Beiranvand and his Belgian counterpart Thibaut Courtois shone with great performances in the duel, and Beiranvand was elected the Superior Man of the Match.
Belgium veteran striker Romelu Lukakua was booked a yellow card only three minutes into the game, when he was stretching to get a foot on Kevin De Bruyne’s cross but caught Beiranvand badly in the chest.
Although Belgium enjoyed the 56 percent ball possession and 21 shots against Iran’s 7, Iran looked more sharp and dangerous on the pitch.
Iran’s first moment came in the 14th minute when a long throw bounced around the penalty area before dropping to Iranian defender Hossein Kanani who hit a powerful volley low to Courtois’ right, but the big Belgian tapped it out. Iran midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi then headed narrowly wide.
On 25 minutes, Iran won a free-kick 35 yards out and defender Ehsan Hajisafi stepped up and shaped to shoot but instead played a cute reverse pass through the bodies on the edge of the box to find star striker Mehdi Taremi, who turned sharply and finished low past Courtois.
However, Iran’s celebrations were cut painfully short as a VAR check confirmed that Taremi was a shoulder-width offside, and the scoreline was still 0-0.
Belgium faced more set piece trouble in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Iranian midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh launched a long throw in from the right which was flicked onto Taremi inside the box. The striker hit a clean volley goalwards, forcing Courtois to react well.
Belgium continued to push, but Iranian defenders held firm around the edge of the box. Although De Bruyne and Tielemans kept trying to thread the finest of needles but the Iranians kept plugging the gaps with discipline.
In the 66th minute, Belgium was reduced to 10 men as defender Nathan Ngoy got a direct red card for a bad tackle on Taremi from behind to deny a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Lukaku, Belgium’s all-time top scorer, could not find space inside the box and was replaced by defender Arthur Theate in the 73rd minute.
Both sides squandered some chances in the last 20 minutes and the match ended in 0-0.
In the latest FIFA rankings released on June 11, Belgium sits 9th, Iran 20th, Egypt 29th, and New Zealand 85th. New Zealand is the lowest ranking team in the ongoing 48-side World Cup.
In the Group G third round kicking off simultaneously on June 26, Belgium faces New Zealand in Canada’s Vancouver, and Iran plays Egypt in Seattle.
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