Overview
Both Belgium and Iran had to go through hard comebacks to win points in the opening matches of the 2026 World Cup.
This will be the first time the two teams have faced each other in history, further increasing the heat for Group G, which is considered very balanced and unpredictable.
Although still considered a bright candidate for a spot in the knockout round, coach Rudi Garcia understands that Belgium played below par in the 1-1 draw against Egypt on the opening day.
After being pierced by Emam Ashour with a classy finish, they almost did not create a significant reaction until after halftime. Only when Romelu Lukaku was brought on the field did the game really change. It was the pressure from the Napoli striker that caused Mohamed Hany to score an own goal, helping Belgium keep one point.
That result extended Belgium's unbeaten streak at the World Cup to three (draws 2, losses 1). Previously, they had only lost 2 out of 13 matches in the tournament (won 11, lost 2).
However, the Opta supercomputer still highly appreciates the chances of the team led by Garcia to advance, with a chance of passing the group stage up to 90.3%, while Iran's corresponding figure is only 47.6%.
On Iran's side, Amir Ghalenoei's army also had to fight bravely to win a 2-2 draw against New Zealand. Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebi respectively scored to bring the match back to the starting line after Elijah Just's double.
This is only the third time in Iran's history that they have avoided defeat in the opening match of the World Cup, after a draw with Nigeria in 2014 and a victory over Morocco in 2018.
However, the West Asian team has never won points in both of the first matches at a World Cup.
This will be the 10th time they have faced a team in the top 15 FIFA at the World Cup, and in the previous nine times, Iran has lost 7 matches. Their only victory was against the United States in 1998, along with a brave 1-1 draw against Portugal at the 2018 World Cup.
Iran may find confidence in Belgium's disappointing scoring performance at the World Cup in recent years. If not counting own goals, the European representative has not scored at the World Cup since Michy Batshuayi's goal against Canada in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.
In fact, Belgium has not been able to convert any shots into goals in the last 46 shots at the tournament, even though the total expected goal index (xG) of those chances is up to 5.66.
Head-to-head record
Belgium is on a 14-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. However, Rudi Garcia understands that his team does not have much room for mistakes if they want to win a ticket to the knockout round early.
Meanwhile, Iran does not have an impressive head-to-head record against European representatives at the World Cup. The West Asian team has only won one victory in 10 encounters with opponents from the old continent (2 draws, 7 losses).
Score prediction: Belgium 2-1 Iran
The match between Belgium and Iran takes place at 2:00 AM on June 22 (Vietnam time).
