Overview
Egypt will face Iran at Lumen Field (Seattle) in the last match of Group G of the 2026 World Cup, at the same time as the confrontation between Belgium and New Zealand. This is considered a decisive match in the group stage as all three teams Egypt, Belgium and Iran still have a chance to finish in the leading position.
Having secured a place in the round of 32, Egypt only needs to defeat Iran to win the top spot in the group. A draw may also be enough if Belgium does not beat New Zealand or cannot overcome Egypt in terms of sub-indices.
Meanwhile, Iran will rise to the top if they defeat Egypt and Belgium does not beat New Zealand, or wins but cannot surpass Iran in goal difference. According to the prediction of Opta supercomputer, Egypt has a 61.4% chance of finishing in first place in Group G, Belgium is 28.7%, and Iran only reaches 9.9%.
This is a memorable World Cup for Egypt. The 3-1 victory over New Zealand in the second match was the first time they triumphed at the World Cup after nine participations.
Not only winning all 3 points, Egypt also set a series of their own records at the World Cup (since 1966) with 19 shots, 7 shots on target, 36 touches in the opponent's penalty area, 55.6% ball possession and 460 successful passes.
In midfield, Marwan Attia is a prominent factor with 82 accurate passes and 9 ball recovery. He became the second African player since 1966 to achieve both of these milestones in a World Cup match, after Emmanuel Kunde of Cameroon in 1990.
However, Mohamed Salah is still the brightest star of Egypt. The former Liverpool striker has scored or assisted in all four recent appearances at the World Cup. If he continues to score against Iran, Salah will surpass Hossam Hassan to exclusively occupy the all-time scoring record of the Egyptian national team with 69 goals.
On Iran's side, the West Asian team is also facing the opportunity to surpass the World Cup group stage for the first time. However, professional statistics show that they are not really convincing.
After two matches, Iran is the team with the fewest shots (24), the fewest shots on target (7) and the lowest expected goal difference (xG) in Group G (2.1). At the same time, they are also the team that has suffered the most shots (37) and the most shots on target (15).
Experience is Iran's biggest strength. In the 0-0 draw with Belgium, they fielded the oldest starting lineup in World Cup history with an average age of 32 years and 181 days. Amir Ghalenoei's team also became the first team to have three players aged 36 and over start in a World Cup match, including Shojae Khalilzadeh (37 years old), Ramin Rezaeian (36 years old) and Ehsan Hajsafi (36 years old).
Head-to-head record
This is the first time Egypt and Iran have faced each other at a World Cup.
Previously, the two teams had only met once, at the LG Cup friendly tournament held in Tehran in June 2000. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, before Egypt won 8-7 on penalties.
Score prediction: Egypt 1-0 Iran
The match between Egypt and Iran takes place at 10:00 AM on June 27 (Vietnam time).
