Coming into the World Cup ranked No. 10, Belgium had high expectations. But two ties in its opening two games have left the team facing a decisive match against New Zealand in the group G finale.
“Sometimes you have to win, and in this situation you have to win,” Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia told reporters after a scoreless draw with Iran on June 21. “Obviously, I would have wished to start better, but this is part of life.”
Belgium’s situation became more precarious later on June 21, when Egypt defeated New Zealand 3–1 to move atop group G with four points. Belgium and Iran each have two points through two matches, while New Zealand has one.
Belgium needs to beat New Zealand on June 26 to guarantee a spot in the knockout round. After taking just two points from its first two matches, Belgium no longer has much margin for error.
Iran holds an edge over Belgium after the June 21 0–0 tie, having scored more goals thus far, which would give Iran the tiebreaker if the two teams finish tied for standings points. A draw for Belgium would result in three points overall in the standings, and Belgium would need Iran to tie Egypt and have fewer points afterward to have a remote chance of advancing.
For now, Belgium has more than enough worries after the second tie, in which missed opportunities abounded at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Both goalkeepers came up big in the match, in which Belgium had 23 shots, and Iran had seven. Belgium controlled possession with the ball 59 percent of the time despite only 10 players being available, but Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand made key stops.
“He is one of our greatest goalkeepers in the history of Iranian football, and he had one of his best days today,” Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei told reporters afterward. “He had the right concentration, and he gave us one very valuable point.”
Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois likewise stepped up in key moments. Courtois gave up the only shot of the game that crossed the goal line, but officials called it back against Iran because of an offside.
“I think, in general, we played quite a good game,” Courtois told reporters afterward. “Obviously, you can always find things you’d like to do better. We had enough chances to score, and we didn’t score. Their goalkeeper played a great game.”
Mehdi Taremi sent in the potential goal, which would have been the team’s third goal in the tournament. A 1–0 win would have vaulted Iran into a firm lead for group G, but Belgium has to look back at the 30 shots with even more of a what-if scenario.
“We could have won by three goals against Iran, but we weren’t efficient enough,” Garcia said. “We had many attempts, and when you don’t score, you don’t win a match.”
Belgium had 18 shots inside the penalty area, and seven shots on target overall. Iran also had minimal opportunity with possession just 30 percent of the time, while the ball was in contest 11 percent of the time.
“We dominated, so tactically and in terms of the game plan we played as we wanted to play,” Garcia said. “But we were wasteful and lacked efficiency.”
Having only 10 players also played a role for Belgium. That occurred in the 66th minute when Nathan Ngoy drew a red card by fouling Mehdi Taremi.
“Playing 30 minutes down a man is very difficult in a World Cup,” Garcia said.
While Belgium seeks to get into the win column at full strength, Iran keeps pushing forward with difficult off-field circumstances. The travel and visa issues for Iran have been a burden in particular, but Iran’s on-field success is turning heads at the World Cup.
“We came into the World Cup under the worst possible conditions,” Ghalenoei said. “And still we got a result against a great team and a great manager. We played a beautiful game.”
