Belgium, Egypt ‘Smile’ as They Advance to Next Round

Vancouver: Belgium secured their spot in the Round of 32 of the World Cup after topping their group with a dominant 5-1 thrashing of New Zealand on Friday.

At the same time, Egypt also confirmed their early advancement before their final group match took place in Seattle, ensuring both teams progressed to the knockout stage.

However, for Iran, their journey remains uncertain as they must wait for results from other groups to determine whether they qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.

Egypt, who already knew their qualification status earlier, still played with full discipline before holding Iran to a 1-1 draw in their final Group G match.

Belgium, on the other hand, had no trouble as they put on an attacking display to defeat New Zealand 5-1, confirming their position as group winners.

Meanwhile, in Seattle, Iran were held after Egypt took the lead as early as the fifth minute through Mahmoud Saber.

Iran, however, fought back to level the score nine minutes later through Ramin Rezaeian in a match that was played at a high tempo from the opening whistle.

Iran also had an opportunity to secure victory when they were awarded a penalty in the first half, but captain Mehdi Taremi failed to convert as his effort was saved by the Egyptian goalkeeper.

Taremi again came close to making an impact when his header in the dying minutes hit the crossbar, denying Iran a crucial opportunity to take home all three points.

Drama continued when Iran thought they had scored a winning goal in injury time through Shoja Khalilzadeh.

However, the goal was disallowed after a VAR review found the player to be in an offside position.

The draw saw Egypt finish Group G in second place with five points, behind Belgium on goal difference.

Iran, meanwhile, finished in third place with three points and must now wait for confirmation on whether they are among the eight best third-placed teams to advance to the Round of 32.

Harian Metro