World Cup 2026: Iran misses victory against Egypt, but can still advance

In the World Cup stadium in Seattle, Mahmoud Saber scored for Egypt (5th minute), Ramin Rezaeian equalized for Iran (14th). Mehdi Taremi also failed with a penalty kick from Egypt goalkeeper Ufa Schobeir (11th). Nevertheless, moving into the knockout round after three draws as third in the group is still possible – against the backdrop of the US and Israel’s war against the country.

There has been a lot of fuss about the game for several months. The local organizers had already decided before the World Cup draw to declare the game as a “Pride Match” as part of the “Pride Fest” taking place this weekend. Iran and Egypt are far from sharing the values ​​of the LGBTQI+ community. Both nations protested against the label – unsuccessfully.

There wasn’t much to see of the “Pride Match” in the stadium and around the arena. Some fans carried rainbow flags and wore colorful makeup. It was already clear that the world association FIFA itself would not take part in campaigns under the Pride motto. The political situation became more noticeable. Whistles could also be heard in the stadium during the Iranian anthem. Around the venue, people demonstrated for, among other things, “regime change in Iran”, for peace there and against the policies of US President Donald Trump.

On the pitch, Egypt took their first chance to take the lead. Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand initially made a poor clearance and was then tunnelled by Saber. However, Iran reacted strongly to the early setback. First, Taremi was denied by Schobeir from the penalty spot. Then Rezaeian let the Iranian fans cheer. After Schobeir initially parried a shot, the 36-year-old scored from a very tight angle.
A balanced game developed.

The spectators in the stadium didn’t see any more goals – it was still dramatic because Shojae Khalilzadeh’s goal (90+3) for Iran didn’t count because of offside after a VAR check, his foot was offside. Iran was also unlucky with two hits on the crossbar.

In the parallel game, Belgium easily made it into the round of 32 after two weak previous games. Kevin De Bruyne’s team won safely in Vancouver with 5:1 (1:0) against outsiders New Zealand and, after two draws at the start, made it into the round of 16 perfect.

Double goalscorer Leandro Trossard (28th minute/50th), De Bruyne (66th), Romelu Lukaku (86th) and Alexis Saelemaekers (90th + 4) ensured the Belgians’ success with their goals in front of 52,497 spectators against harmless New Zealanders, who remain without a win at a World Cup even after their third participation after 1982 and 2010. Elijah Just (84th) was able to at least score the goal to make it 1:3.