Belgium see red as Iran hold them to a goalless draw
Defender Nathan Ngoy was sent off in the second half, and the result leaves Rudi Garcia's side facing the possibility of a second straight group-stage exit, a sobering outcome for a squad still built around Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lakuku.
Result: Belgium 0-0 Iran
Venue: Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood
Competition: 2026 FIFA World Cup, Group G
The defining moment came in the 66th minute, and it was as inevitable as it gets. Nathan Ngoy, just six caps into his Belgium career, tried to roll a simple pass back to Thibaut Courtois, only to catch the ball with his own planted foot and send it nowhere useful. Mehdi Taremi pounced on the loose ball with a clear run at goal, and Ngoy's only option was to drag him down. Referee Darío Herrera reached for the red card without much hesitation, denying a clear goal-scoring chance leaves no room for debate.
Iran actually thought they would take the lead before that, when Taremi turned home a slick first-half free-kick routine, but the goal was chalked off for offside after a VAR check. It was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock in a half, Belgium largely controlled.
Down to ten men, Belgium had to dig in. Iran's goalkeeper Ali Reza Beiranvand had already been busy, and with the extra man advantage, Iran threw on fresh legs and leaned on Belgium for the rest of the match.
Garcia wasn't in the mood to dress it up afterwards. "We could have won by three goals against Iran, but we weren't efficient enough," he said. "We had many attempts, and when you don't score, you don't win a match. We dominated, so tactically and in terms of the game plan we played as we wanted to play. But we were wasteful and lacked efficiency." On the sending-off, he was blunt about what it cost his team: "Playing 30 minutes down a man is very difficult in a World Cup."
It was the eighth red card of this World Cup, and it leaves Group G as tight as it's been all tournament.
Belgium drew their opener 1-1 with Egypt; Iran opened with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand. Neither side has won a game yet, and with Egypt already on four points after beating New Zealand, both Belgium and Iran will go into their final group matches knowing a draw may no longer be good enough.
