The Belgian team will start their journey at the 2026 World Cup with a confrontation with Egypt at Seattle. This is considered the focus match of Group G when the two top stars Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah have the opportunity to face each other.
The remaining two teams of the group are Iran and New Zealand, representatives who are still waiting to pass the World Cup group stage for the first time in history.
After the peak period of the golden generation, Belgium is still considered the brightest candidate in the group. According to Opta, they have a 89.6% chance of winning a ticket to the next round and a 51.9% chance of finishing the group stage in the leading position.
Meanwhile, the competition for the remaining ticket is predicted to be very fierce. Egypt has 68.2% chance of passing the group stage, only slightly higher than Iran (64.3%). New Zealand is rated lowest with 52.2% chance of stopping.
Belgium waits for a new generation to shine
The pillars that once made the glorious period of Belgian football have now stepped onto the other side of their careers.
Thibaut Courtois is still a reliable stopper in goal, but has turned 34 and just experienced a season affected by injury. Kevin De Bruyne is also no longer maintaining his best physical condition when he constantly has muscle problems.
Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku is not in high form and was frankly commented by coach Rudi Garcia that he has not reached his best condition. Veterans like Axel Witsel or Thomas Meunier are also no longer maintaining their influence as before.
Therefore, Belgium's hopes at this World Cup are placed more on the next generation. Charles De Ketelaere continues to develop in Serie A, Matias Fernandez-Pardo is receiving attention from many big clubs, but the most anticipated name is Jeremy Doku.
The Manchester City star had an explosive World Cup qualifier when he successfully dribbled 47 times, more than any other European player. Doku also had 110 touches in the opponent's penalty area, a statistic superior to the rest.
Despite being rated highest in the group, Belgium's chances of winning the World Cup are only 2.4%, behind many candidates such as the Netherlands or Norway. This means they are still considered a dark horse rather than a real candidate for the championship.
Salah shoulders the dream of Egypt
Egypt is predicted to be Belgium's biggest opponent in the race for the top spot in the group. However, World Cup history is not on the side of the African representative.
After 7 matches at the World Cups, Egypt has not yet won any. Only Honduras has a worse record when participating in more matches without knowing the taste of victory.
However, Egypt still has faith in Salah. The 34-year-old striker continues to be the "soul" in the team's playing style when scoring 9 goals and having 3 assists in the World Cup qualifiers, directly contributing to 60% of the team's goals.
Before the friendly match with Brazil, Salah had scored 67 goals for the national team and was only 3 goals away from Egypt's all-time scoring record.
Iran determined to break the group stage jinx
Iran is the most experienced team in the group after Belgium. This is the seventh time they have participated in the World Cup and the fifth time in the 21st century.
However, the Asian representative has never passed the group stage. Among the teams that have participated in at least 15 World Cup matches, Iran has the lowest scoring efficiency with an average of only 0.72 goals per match.
However, Opta still assesses that Iran has a 64.3% chance of going further. This team possesses stability, international competition experience and is fully capable of competing fairly with Egypt for second place.
New Zealand awaits a miracle
New Zealand is considered the weakest team in Group G. The representative of Oceania has never won a World Cup and has never passed the group stage.
However, under the guidance of coach Darren Bazeley, who just helped New Zealand win the OFC Nations Cup 2024, this team still hopes to create a surprise.
According to Opta, New Zealand has a 47.8% chance of passing the group stage. Despite being rated the lowest, they still have the right to hope in a group where the level gap between teams is not too large.
