What you missed from the early morning World Cup kickoffs | OneFootball

Much of fans’ attention on Saturday morning was understandably fixed on Cape Verde’s miraculous achievement of reaching the World Cup knockout stages at their first ever tournament.

So much so, that you might have missed the action from the early hours of the morning as Belgium battled to avoid the same fate as Uruguay while Iran and Egypt were also out to reach the round of 32.

Here, FromTheSpot takes a look at the talking points and fallout from Belgium vs New Zealand and Egypt vs Iran.

New Zealand 1-5 Belgium: Red Devils breeze through

Absolutely no surprises in Vancouver as Belgium thrashed the lowest-ranked team to top Group G and make it into the knockout stages to rectify a disappointing group stage exit in Qatar four years ago.

A brace from Leandro Trossard got the Red Devils up and running to inspire Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Alexis Saelemaekers to run riot after frustrating draws with their other two group opponents.

It was a proud moment for Lukaku when he found the net for the 97th time for his country, becoming Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer.

New Zealand’s silver lining was Elijah Just ending on a high with a consolation in the 84th minute, making it three goals in as many games, but they will rue the fact his brace wasn’t enough to beat Iran in their first match.

Belgium are currently set to face South Korea in the round of 32, but with their tournament hanging by a thread that could chance before travelling to Seattle for the game next Wednesday and kicking off at 21:00 (BST).

Egypt 1-1 Iran: Tense game ends level

Two goals inside the first quarter of an hour saw Egypt and Iran play out a draw to end their Group G campaigns, with Mohamed Salah’s side qualifying for the knockouts and Iran going sixth in the third-placed teams table.

Mahmoud Saber struck in the fifth minute, sending his shot through a crowd of defenders guarding the goal line to provisionally put the Pharaohs top only for it to be cancelled out by right wing-back Ramin Rezaeian.

Mohamed Salah’s future at the tournament was cast into doubt after going off early with a suspected knee injury, yet his manager Hossam Hassan offered assurances that the 34-year-old was “OK” and could yet feature again.

Iran’s equalizer came after Mehdi Taremi missed his penalty to level the game and looked rather desolate at the prospect of his side not being in with a chance of making it through.

But Rezaeian was on hand to squeeze the rebound to Milad Mohammadi’s shot into the net from a very tight angle to the right of goal and give Iran a slim chance of reaching the round of 32 and in turn worsening Scotland’s chances.

There was an air of tension even before kick off as Taremi criticized FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s handling of Iran’s World Cup campaign that has seen their training camp relocated and personnel denied visas to enter the United States.

He told The Athletic: “It’s a disaster World Cup, a disaster. I mean, FIFA have to solve every problem here but unfortunately they could not solve it since the beginning.

“Mr Infantino came to our changing room after the first game against New Zealand and said ‘It’s just the beginning…’ but the group stage finishes tomorrow.

“We don’t have our logistic people here – they don’t have a visa. How is it possible we always have to travel from Tijuana? Our opinion is, it’s not fair.”

That wasn’t the only source of tension, as local organisers in Seattle had designated the match as a Pride Match by virtue of falling on the Friday before Pride Weekend that celebrates diversity and the LGBTQ+ community.

The celebrations – which included pride watch parties, drag performances, and pride flags being flown inside the stadium – had been planned before the two teams were drawn together.

Egypt and Iran – countries where homosexuality is illegal – both lodged complaints and their managers said they were purely focused on the football, and would not address discussion or questions surrounding LGBTQ+ pride.

Wales icon Jess Fishlock, who currently plays for Seattle Reign FC and is on the host committee, said that the pride match did not concern the two teams playing at the Seattle Stadium.

“The match is about Seattle, not Egypt or Iran. Regardless of who is playing, we would be the same. “It’s such an important part of Seattle’s identity and culture.”

FIFA said that the game was regular group stage fixture and that they had not designated it as a FIFA Pride Match.

For more detailed reports, reaction, and analysis of the World Cup as it happens, head to our website and favourite our page on OneFootball.