World Cup 2026
Crime outnumbered: Belgium stumbles again
Updated June 21, 2026 – 11:09 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
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The “Red Devils” are having a hard time with Iran and can’t win again. At times even a Belgian has to make repeated rescues. In the end it gets dramatic.
Belgium is still waiting for its first victory at the Football World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The team around star players Kevin De Bruyne couldn’t get past a 0-0 draw against Iran in the second game of Group G. Coach Rudi Garcia’s team even had to survive outnumbered from the 66th minute onwards because Nathan Ngoy was shown a red card for an emergency stop.
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At the start of the tournament, the “Red Devils” only had a 1-1 draw Egypt played. The Belgians once again fell short of expectations, but they also have every chance of progressing. The Iranians, whose anthem was once again booed by thousands of dissident Iranian exiles before the game, have two points in Group G like the Belgians.
That’s how the game went
The game started as expected: Belgium led by De Bruyne immediately took control and brought the ball into Iran’s penalty area early on. Because Romelu Lukaku, who was called into the starting line-up, came too late and crashed into Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, the goalscorer was already booked in the third minute to make it 1-1 against Egypt. Beiranvand was always there when he was needed. The 33-year-old kept the score 0-0 against Maxim De Cuyper (9th), Tielemans (22nd) and again De Cuyper (44th).
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1:1 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 0 | 1 |
Iran concentrated mainly on defending and had great difficulty keeping the ball in their own ranks for more than a few seconds. Most of the time, a technical impropriety when receiving or an inaccurate pass quickly brought Belgium back into possession of the ball. However: In front of an audience that loudly booed the Iranian anthem, as in the 2-2 draw against New Zealand, but then celebrated every successful move by Iran during the game, the Asians also came dangerously in front of the Belgian goal.
The Belgians, on the other hand, often acted without ideas. The absence of Man City star Jeremy Doku due to illness had an impact on the Belgian side. Thibaut Courtois had to show his class in the 14th minute when he turned Hossein Kanaanizadegan’s shot towards a corner. In the 25th minute the goalkeeper had to leave real Madrid even admit defeat. Iran took a flat free kick, Mehdi Taremi scored from the turn – but after minutes of review the goal did not count. Taremi’s butt was offside.
