The Belgians showed no mercy against the New Zealanders and took the zone, while the Egyptians drew with the Iranians to remain as runners-up
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Three out of four definition dates completed. The G Group closed its doors with Belgium in first place thanks to their 5-1 thrashing of New Zealand and a second place for Egypt that managed a hard-fought 1-1 draw against a Iran that will have to wait to see if they advance as one of the best third-placed teams.
Egypt 1-1 Iran
In the first minutes of the match, Egypt would quickly take the lead. In the 5th minute, Alireza Beiranvand would deflect a mis-hit shot fromMohamed Salah, leaving a rebound that Mahmoud Saber would capitalize on to convert the early 1-0.
Shortly after, Iran would get the chance to equalize via a penalty, resulting from a foul by Mohamed Abdelmoneim on Mehdi Taremi in the area. The one tasked with taking it would be the Iranian captain himself, who would take a very predictable shot that goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir Oufa managed to save.
Despite these two initial disappointments, Iran would regain their confidence at 14. After receiving the ball in the area, Milad Mohammadi would shake off his marker and shoot, forcing a save from Oufa that would keep the ball alive, which would then be sent into the net by Ramin Rezaeian.
After these goals, the match would gradually quiet down, leading to a more tense game that would result in four yellow cards, two for each side, before halftime.
In the second half, despite some approaches from both sides, the score would not see any new changes until added time: at 92 of 96, after a series of rebounds in the area, the Asians, who had been superior in the final stretch, would reach 2-1 thanks to Shoja Khalilzadeh. However, the goal would be disallowed for a millimetric offside prior.
In the other match, Belgium would start on fire, generating multiple dangerous situations near the New Zealand goal. After several minutes, they would get their first clear opportunity: Leandro Trossard would receive in the small area and shoot on goal, but his shot would hit the post and then be cleared off the line by defenderTyler Bindon.
About 10 minutes later, the Europeans would get an unmissable opportunity to take the lead: the referee would award a penalty for a handball by Finn Surman in the area. However, the official would review the play in VAR and overturn his decision, considering the impact was in "natural position".
Just after the first cooling break, the Belgians would finally reach 1-0. In the 27th, a cross from Kevin De Bruyne from the corner would be brought down by Tim Payne, who was looking the other way, leaving the ball set up for Trossard to push it into the net.
While they would continue to pressure their opponent in attack, the Red Devils could not extend their lead before halftime, although they would do so at the start of the second half. After a great combination of passes, Trossard would receive in the area and, despite his first chance hitting Bindon, he would convert the 2-0 on his second attempt.
And as the saying goes, there’s no two without three. In the 65th, De Bruyne would pick up a loose ball at the edge of the area and rub the lamp from afar with a low left-footed shot to the right post of goalkeeper Max Crocombe for the 3-0.
At the end, and to everyone's surprise, New Zealand would score: after a clearance from Thibaut Courtois following a corner kick, the ball would fall to Elijah Just, who would beat the Real Madrid goalkeeper. However, the joy would be short-lived, as the recently entered Romelu Lukaku would head in the 4-1, and to crown their celebration, Belgium would close with another goal, credited to Alexis Saelemaekers.
With these results, Belgium finished first with 5 points and will face a third-placed team from Groups A (South Korea), E (Ecuador), I (Senegal), or J, next Wednesday, July 1 at the Lumen Field Stadium in Seattle. Meanwhile, Egypt finished second with the same number of points (5), but was overcome by goal difference (+4 to +2) and will face Australia next Friday, July 3 at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.
Further down, Iran finished third with 3 points and will depend on how the rest of the groups finish to see if they finally remain among the 8 best third-placed teams and advance to the next phase. If they do, they would play against Switzerland on Friday, July 3 at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Finally, New Zealand closed the group in last place with a single point, worsening their performance from their previous World Cup participation (South Africa 2010 with 3 points), but improving their first (Spain 82 with 0 points).
