Iran vs. Belgium: The Match That Could’ve Been an Email | OneFootball

There was bound to be at least one eyesore of a match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and it finally came on Sunday morning in Inglewood, CA. Fresh off a 1-1 draw vs. Egypt in Seattle, Belgium faced off against Iran, who returned to the Los Angeles area after previously clawing their way back from two deficits in a 2-2 draw vs. New Zealand.

Lineup Changes

Belgium manager Rudi Garcia made four changes, with Maxim De Cuyper replacing Timothy Castagne and Nicolas Raskin replacing Amadou Onana, whilst Jérémy Doku and Charles De Ketelaere made way for Alexis Saelemaekers and Romelu Lukaku. As for Amir Ghalenoei, he brought in Saleh Hardani, Ehsan Hajisafi, and Hossein Kanani for Milad Mohammadi, Arya Yousefi, and Shahriyar Moghanloo.

First Half

Belgium kicked off proceedings early by mounting pressure in the opposition half, with Romelu Lukaku nearly opening the scoring only to catch Alireza Beiranvand late and receive a booking.

After spending several minutes on the ground receiving treatment, Beiranvand would recover and make his presence felt with one of the finest shot-stopping displays of the tournament.

Iran very nearly took the lead as Ramin Rezaeian cut through the backline with an intricate free kick, where Mehdi Taremi received on the half-turn and slammed home the opener. But it was ruled out due to offsides after a VAR review, and Belgium wrestled back the momentum and started to find joy with balls in behind the backline.

Seeing Red

Whilst Thibaut Courtois was also called upon to deliver the goods, it was Beiranvand who was the busier goalkeeper, denying De Cuyper from point-blank range. Shortly after, Belgium shot themselves in the foot as Nathan Ngoy made a mess of an attempted back pass and panicked by dragging Taremi down rather than trying to beat him for pace.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Alternate crop) Nathan Ngoy #25 of Belgium receives a red card by Referee Dario Herrera during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Belgium and IR Iran at Los Angeles Stadium on June 21, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

With Belgium down to 10 men for the final half-hour, the match started to open up as Iran tried to make their advantage count, but Belgium nevertheless remained in the driver’s seat and continued to force home the opener. Ultimately, though, they proved to be the same team that they were in Seattle, capable of racking up the pressure but unable to actually find a way past the goalkeeper — their sole goal of the tournament came via an own goal.

Double Goose Egg

It ended up in the tournament’s third goalless draw after Spain’s shocking stalemate to Cape Verde and Curaçao’s draw to Ecuador, a result that, more than anything, epitomized the aphorism: “A good compromise leaves everyone angry.”

Post-Match Frustrations

This frustration was visceral in the post-match mixed zone, with Kevin de Bruyne sardonically telling Hooligan Soccer, “There’s a lot of positives.” Romelu Lukaku, meanwhile, defended his lack of form to Hooligan Soccer: “I feel good, if I didn’t feel great, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Lukaku, De Bruyne, Courtois and Leandro Trossard were the only Belgian players who stopped for questions. As for Iran, Saman Ghoddos and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were chosen to speak to the media in the mixed zone. It would take more than two hours for the entire team to make their way through the mixed zone, offering a couple of words at best.

Jahanbakhsh mentioned that he was “very proud” of his team’s display, Kanani said, “it’s positive,” whilst Mohammad Mohebi stated his message to the Team Melli fans: “Thanks for the support, you know it’s an amazing support, thank you so much.”

It felt like a middle finger, but to whom? To FIFA and the U.S. government, who forced them to relocate their training camp from Tucson to Tijuana due to U.S. visa denials for over a dozen team officials and escalating security concerns? Or to the journalists who, despite their incessant pleas to not talk about politics, continued to bombard them with questions about politics after the New Zealand match?

A Real Sn0-0zer

Whatever the answer was, I felt that I had wasted a significant portion of my day for nothing. On a day that featured Spain’s cathartic win against Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, Egypt’s first-ever World Cup victory in Vancouver, and another pulsating stalemate in Miami, I felt a sense of woe that I had just happened to stumble on the worst match of the tournament.

And whilst it may have been journalistic negligence, I dearly wished that I had simply left the match after the final whistle and found a place to watch Cape Verde-Uruguay instead of sticking it out for the post-match media activities for a game that more than anything, I will remember for my mistake of ordering a barely edible $14 Italian hoagie from FIFA’s media cafe.

I wasn’t the only one who felt as much. Fox Soccer analyst Zlatan Ibrahimović stated, “In the first half, I almost fell asleep. In the second half, I actually fell asleep.” It was a match between one side that was forced to come out of its defensive shell but never wanted to expose themselves too much on the counter, and another side that, for all its creativity and technical prowess, simply didn’t have any teeth to chew their chances with.

Group G Should Have a Dramatic Finale

But it wasn’t all bad: it sets up a remarkable final day of action on Friday, with new Group G leaders Egypt set to face Iran in Seattle. Egypt sit three points above New Zealand and two above Belgium — who will face off in Vancouver — as well as two above Iran.

Everything is left to play for, with New Zealand and Iran chasing their first-ever knockout berth and Egypt challenging for their first knockout round finish since 1934….when they lost to Hungary in the Round of 16 of a 16-team tournament. Belgium, meanwhile, find themselves at risk of suffering a second consecutive group stage exit.

Maybe