The fate of Group G at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been decided, with Belgium finishing top of the standings after defeating New Zealand 4-1, while Iran settled for third place following a 1-1 draw against Egypt.
At Seattle Stadium, Iran and Egypt shared the points in an entertaining contest.
Egypt took an early lead in the fifth minute when Mahmoud Saber capitalized on an incomplete clearance by Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to score for the Pharaohs.
Iran had a golden opportunity to equalize in the 11th minute, but Mehdi Taremi's penalty was brilliantly saved by Mostafa Shobeir.
The equalizer came just three minutes later. After Milad Mohammadi's effort was parried back into play, Ramin Rezaeian fired the rebound into the roof of the net to make it 1-1.
The match became more balanced after the equalizer. Iran nearly went ahead just before halftime, but Shoja Khalilzadeh's header drifted narrowly wide.
In the second half, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan substituted Mohamed Salah in the 57th minute due to what appeared to be a minor injury.
Iran thought they had found a dramatic winner in stoppage time when Khalilzadeh headed home, but the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review. Moments later, Saeid Ezatolahi's header struck the crossbar, denying Iran a late victory.
Meanwhile, at Vancouver Stadium, Belgium cruised to a comfortable 5-1 victory over New Zealand.
Leandro Trossard opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a close-range finish before doubling Belgium's lead five minutes into the second half. Kevin De Bruyne added a third in the 66th minute in what was a dominant display by the Red Devils. Eli Just pulled one back for New Zealand in the 84th minute, but Romelu Lukaku restored Belgium's three-goal advantage two minutes later to seal the win. Alexis Saelemaekers completed the scoring with a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The final Group G standings saw Belgium finish first with five points, ahead of Egypt on goal difference despite both teams ending with the same tally. Iran finished third with three points and must now wait for results from the remaining groups to determine whether they qualify for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams. New Zealand ended bottom of the group with one point.
