▲ Belgian defender Nathan Ngoy receives a red card
The Iranian national football team, led by a series of brilliant saves from their goalkeeper, played to a scoreless draw against a formidable Belgium side, which was reduced to 10 men.
Iran played out a 0-0 draw against Belgium in their second Group G match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Los Angeles Stadium in California, USA, on Monday (June 22).
With this draw, both Iran and Belgium recorded two draws each, pushing their hopes for a first victory to their final group stage matches.
Having both drawn their opening matches, Belgium and Iran, both desperate for a win to advance to the knockout stage, clashed fiercely from the early minutes of the first half.
Belgium was without key forward Jérémy Doku, who was excluded from the squad due to symptoms of a respiratory infection.
Doku had previously drawn attention after expressing his intention to temporarily leave the national team camp to be with his wife, who is expecting their first child in the second week of July in the UK, and return after witnessing the birth.
As Iran set up a solid defensive wall with a "defense-first, counter-attack" strategy, Belgium focused on finding openings, led by tall striker Romelu Lukaku and veteran midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
In the 9th minute of the first half, Belgium's Maxim De Cuyper fired a right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area, but it was denied by a superb save from Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Launching a counter-attack, Iran won a free kick near the right side of the penalty arc in the 25th minute. Ehsan Hajsafi gently slipped a forward pass to Mehdi Taremi, who controlled it and found the back of the net with a left-footed shot from the center of the penalty area.
However, following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, Taremi was found to have been slightly ahead of Belgium's last defender just before the free kick, leaving Iran to rue the disallowed goal.
Relieved by the decision, Belgium continued their offensive. In the 44th minute, De Cuyper cut into the left side of the goal area and unleashed a left-footed volley, but it struck the goalkeeper's body, ending the first half scoreless.
Belgium dominated the first half with 81% to 19% possession and outshot Iran 11 (2 on target) to 2 (1 on target), but failed to break through Iran's defensive wall.
Both Belgium and Iran threatened each other's goals right at the start of the second half.
In the 50th minute, Belgium's Alexis Saelemaekers struck a right-footed volley from the right side of the goal area during a corner kick, but it hit the side netting. In the 53rd minute, Iran's Taremi attempted a right-footed shot from the center of the penalty area immediately after a long throw-in from the right flank, only to be denied by the goalkeeper's save.
In the 58th minute, Belgium missed a crucial opportunity.
De Bruyne penetrated deep into the right side of the penalty box and delivered a sharp cross, which De Cuyper connected with a shot, but it was kept out by a sensational save from the Iranian goalkeeper.
While maintaining their one-sided onslaught, Belgium suffered a major setback in the 66th minute when they were shown a red card.
Near the halfway line, Belgian center-back Nathan Ngoy misplayed the ball while attempting a backpass to his goalkeeper. As Iran's Taremi quickly tried to steal the ball, he was pulled down by Ngoy.
The referee immediately showed Ngoy a red card and ordered him off the pitch for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Reduced to 10 men, Belgium substituted the underperforming Lukaku upfront and brought on defender Arthur Theate to reinforce their defense.
Stepping up their attack, Iran's Saeid Ezatolahi intercepted the ball in midfield in the 81st minute and unleashed a powerful long-range right-footed shot, but it was stopped by the goalkeeper's save, forcing both teams to settle for a scoreless draw.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.