After the first round of play in Group G, it was evident that every goal and point will be important.
Belgium and Egypt played to a 1-1 draw and New Zealand and Iran finished in a 2-2 draw, leaving all four teams on one point heading into Sunday’s FIFA World Cup second round of games.
New Zealand and Egypt meet at 6 p.m. at BC Place in Vancouver, after Belgium and Iran face off at noon in Inglewood.
“Iran is a country, a team that played well against New Zealand, a team that can score goals,” Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said Friday in a news conference in Seattle. “I’ll be prepared for everything. I always prepare myself to help the team the best way possible.”
Belgium went down early against Egypt, but found an equalizer on a 66th-minute own goal.
“Our biggest challenge was about us,” Belgium midfielder Youri Telemans said after the Egypt game. “We lost too many balls, we weren’t quick enough in transition and when we had the ball, we didn’t find the solutions, we were too static, especially in the first half and in the second half. We created some chances, which we could have won the game, but they had some chances as well.”
Belgium received a boost with the entrance of Romelu Lukaku. The forward played less than 65 minutes during the club season with Napoli. He was initially credited with the equalizing goal, but it was later ruled an own goal.
“First touch, first goal,” Telemans said of Lukaku. “That helped us. He’s a target man. He needs to build up his fitness, which is understandable for being out for the season, but he helps us.”
Belgium’s Golden Generation was on the brink of winning the World Cup. In 2014, the Red Devils advanced to the quarterfinals. In 2018, they lost to France in the semifinals and eventually finished third. However, in 2022, Belgium failed to get out of the group stage. Domenico Tedesco replaced Roberto Martinez after the 2022 World Cup and Rudi Garcia replaced Tedesco last year.
Belgium will not have forward Jérémy Doku with what was originally reported as an illness, but Doku has since revealed he is flying home for the birth of his child.
On Monday, Iran rallied twice, eventually ending up with a point against New Zealand in Inglewood. Ramin Rezaeian scored first for Iran and Mohammad Mohebi scored in the 64th minute with the tying goal. The result was against the backdrop of a large Iranian population protesting the current government in the country.
To complicate the national team’s performance, after the match, they had to travel back to their base camp in Mexico. Initially, Iran’s base camp was set to be in Arizona.
This week, Iran, again trained in Mexico and headed Saturday morning to Los Angeles.
“It’s not good for the football, because in a World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, because it is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone,” forward Mehdi Taremi said of the travel situation after Monday’s game. “But we don’t have that support and I think FIFA has to help us more than this.”
On Thursday, the Iranian Football Federation lodged a complaint with FIFA due to its travel restrictions, arguing that the “rules are harming the team’s preparation and recovery.” The federation again requested that the national team be allowed to arrive 48 hours before the game, but had been denied.
The all-important final group game for both teams will be Friday. Iran will face Egypt in Seattle and Belgium will face New Zealand in Canada.
FIFA WORLD CUP
Who: Belgium vs. Iran (Group G)
When: Noon Sunday
Where: Inglewood
TV: FS1