World Cup 2026: Group G Preview
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read
He's one of the biggest superstars in the World, but Mohamed Salah has never been able to win accolades with Egypt the way they seemed to come naturally at Liverpool. In one of the easiest groups in this Cup, can the Egyptian King lead his football-mad home nation to their first-ever knockout stages?
Belgium 🇧🇪
FIFA Rank: 9th
Qualified as: UEFA Group J winners
The Skinny
It sounds extremely harsh to call a nation roughly the size of Maryland with roughly the population of North Carolina "one of the biggest disappointments in recent global football history." But for the better part of the last 15 years, Belgium's purported "golden generation" was all we heard going into just about every major tournament. Yet, despite a roster suddenly stacked top to bottom like a Premier League/Serie A all-star team, from the 2014 World Cup all the way up through the 2024 Euros, all The Red Devils have to show is a 3rd place finish in Russia 2018, and a 4th place finish in the Nations League three years later. In Qatar in 2022, that group reached their nadir, failing to even progress from their World Cup group despite entering the tournament 4th in the world. Despite the consistent tournament futility, Belgium continues to almost inexplicably find themselves with a Top 10 FIFA rank and a seeded position at the World Cup, and also continues to find themselves as the seeded team with the easiest group (no really, with the exception of that 2022 World Cup group exit, take a look back at the groups they've had for their last few World Cups and Euros....it's unreal. Who are they paying off?). The window for the famed Golden Generation has passed, but can a mostly new generation of players, with less of a weight of expectations upon them, capitalize and take the Red Devils back to at least the semifinal stage?
The Best XI
The Belgium XI is likely to feature at least a couple holdovers from that celebrated group last decade; one of them is world-class Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois, back in the fold under Rudi Garcia after being excluded due to clashing with previous manager Domenico Tedesco. The other is the legendary Kevin De Bruyne, now plying his trade at Napoli, who will surely team up in midfield with the Aston Villa tandem of Amadou Onana and skipper Youri Tielemans. Them and Courtois will sandwich a fairly inexperienced back line: right-backs Thomas Meunier and Timothy Castagne are the only defenders named to the squad with any major tournament experience for Belgium. I think it's Fulham's Castagne who will probably get the nod this tournament, with his Premier League counterpart Maxim De Kuyper (Brighton) the other fullback, and Sporting Lisbon's Zeno Debast and Milan youngster Koni De Winter between them. It's a different story in attack, where nearly the entire crop are names that have featured for Belgium on the biggest stage before. Romelu Lukaku seems to always turn up for the Red Devils, so I wouldn't be surprised if the veteran striker starts up top, but I expect the nod may be given instead to the more in-form Arsenal man, Leandro Trossard. There's no shortage of winger options, but Manchester City's Jérémy Doku is the only surefire starter among the forwards, coming off a red-hot finish to the season with the domestic double winners.
Egypt 🇪🇬
FIFA Rank: 29th
Qualified as: CAF Group A winners
The Skinny
Despite their minimal World Cup record (this is just their 3rd appearance), Egypt are historically one of Africa's most successful footballing nations, with 7 Africa Cup of Nations trophies to their name and the most proficient domestic league on the continent. That is why it's deeply ironic that their steep fall-off in success and depth of the player pool happened to coincide almost directly with the rise of the career of the greatest Egyptian player of all time, Mohamed Salah, one of the sport's modern-day greats in general. So the fact that Egypt's noticeable improvement in recent performances is now coming at a time in which Salah's professional career may be in its twilight is somehow fitting, and perhaps might indicate good things for The Pharaohs at this Cup. They overachieved at the African Cup just months ago, finishing 4th place in the tournament after a competitive loss to eventual champions Senegal, and felling reigning champs Côte d'Ivoire along the way. They were nothing short of dominant in during qualifying, too, topping their group with 26 points out of a maximum 30. With a seemingly wide open race for 2nd place at least, could a more cohesive and consistent Egypt side finally make the most of their World Cup moment?
The Best XI
Despite Salah's difficulties this season at Liverpool, he still showed throughout the year that he's capable of greatness at any given moment, and that certainly was still the case throughout both qualifying and the Cup of Nations with Egypt. He'll be the focal point of the attack, still, but Manchester City man Omar Marmoush and veteran winger Trézéguet will certainly take some defenders' attention off him as well. Oviedo's Haissem Hassan may well start in attack with them, but in midfield and defense, just about the entirety of The Pharoahs' options play domestically-- predominantly for Egyptian giants Al Ahly --including their folk hero keeper Mohamed El Shenawy. The notable exception is Nice's Mohamed Abdelmonem, who will fulcrum a veteran defense.
Iran 🇮🇷
FIFA Rank: 20th
Qualified as: AFC Group A winners
The Skinny
Iran has been one of the buzziest World Cup participants this year, but for all the wrong reasons, reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the football they play on the pitch. After Team Melli had long qualified for this tournament-- indeed, even after the draw for this tournament took place, that ceremony's inaugural recipient of the shameful "FIFA Peace Prize" made the asinine decision to bomb Iran and place copious travel bans on the people of that nation. Understandably, this threw an enormous wrench in Iran's participation in this tournament; despite the constant reassurances of FIFA's clown president Gianni Infantino that all would be fine and normal, his good buddy Donald Trump continued to bloviate about how they will not be permitted in the country, where they are scheduled to play all 3 of their group stage matches at least. The national team finally managed to reach an agreement with Mexico's government to be base their camp south of the border for the entirety of the tournament. And, despite the wishes of the Trump administration and with no help at all from the powers-that-be at FIFA, Iran will in fact be taking place at this tournament, although the latest policy update from the White House makes it seem as if they will not be able to travel into the country until the actual day of their matches, which is outrageous. It would be understandable if the chaos surrounding them impacts their play on the pitch, but the tragedy of it all is, if it didn't, Iranians would have plenty of reason to feel optimistic about this team! As already mentioned, this particular group has a wide-open feel, and Iran are a truly solid team: Team Melli reached the semifinals at each of the last 3 Asian Cups, they positively skated through qualifying, and they're the second-highest ranked Asian side behind Japan, the continent's only other team in the Top 20. They have never progressed past the group stage, but they've come tantalizingly close at the last two times of asking: in both 2018 and 2022, Iran finished 3rd place in their group, and were just a goal-line clearance in stoppage time of their final match away from advancing at the expense of Portugal and the United States, respectively. Will the numerous disadvantages the political situation has saddled this squad with be to their detriment, or will it bind them closer and help them across that razor-thin line this time around?
The Best XI
A lot of this team's creative play will likely be filtered through their two veteran stars, longtime Premier League forward Ali Jahanbakhsh and longtime Inter Milan player Mehdi Taremi. German dual-national Dennis Eckert Dargahi and Russian-based Mohammad Mohebi give them more quality options from European leagues. But, just as with Egypt's squad, the further back on the field you go, the more exclusively Iran's squad options are domestic-based: the likely entirety of the defensive midfield and back 5 are based in Iran, with the majority starring for Persian Gulf Pro League titans Persepolis. This is a veteran-heavy defense, bolstered at the back by 34-year old keeper Alireza Beiranvand.
New Zealand 🇳🇿
FIFA Rank: 85th
Qualified as: OFC Third-round playoff winner
The Skinny
In this inaugural 48-team World Cup, there are, of course, a number of smaller, less history-rich (in a footballing sense) nations in this tournament in comparison to past editions. But perhaps no one nation benefitted more directly from the expanded field than New Zealand did. It's not that the Kiwis belong to the smallest or unlikeliest country at these games, nor is it that they've never gotten to this stage before: this will be the All-Whites' 3rd World Cup, in fact, their last entry coming 16 years ago in South Africa. Rather, it's the fact that the expanded field gave an unprecedented automatic qualifying spot to the Oceanic region, which-- at least in the 21st century, after Australia defected to the more competitive AFC --has been almost singlehandedly dominated by New Zealand. Typically, their fate has been to win OFC Nations Cups quadrennially and also top the group in World Cup qualifying, but then lose in the inter-confederation playoff to a team from South America or Asia. This year, no such bonus playoff existed, and as such, the All-Whites became one of the first teams to book their spot at the 2026 Cup with dominant wins over Fiji and New Caledonia in March of last year. They're the lowest-ranked team (by FIFA rank) of the 48, and are deprived of consistent quality competition. But, as has been discussed numerous times, already, this is the furthest thing from a Group of Death, and in New Zealand's last Cup, they left South Africa unbeaten, having stolen draws from each of Slovakia, Paraguay and Italy. Don't expect these guys to be scared of an uphill battle.
The Best XI
Just like the previous two teams in this group, the Kiwis' squad includes a large number of domestic-based players, but several of the exceptions are likely to feature in the starting XI. The most obvious example is Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood; the "Kiwi Kane" is still going strong at 34, having finished 3rd in the Premier League on goals scored just a season ago. He'll likely be flanked by some youthful energy on the wings with Saint-Étienne's Ben Old and Scotland-based Elijah Just. The left side of the middle of the park has some Welsh influence, in Swansea City's Marko Stamenić and Wrexham wingback Liberato Cacace. Zwolle's Ryan Thomas will likely be the other midfield pivot, playing in front of Sheffield United's Tyler Bindon and the MLS tandem of Finn Surman (Portland Timbers) and wily vet Michael Boxall (Minnesota United).
Group Schedule (all times ET)
6/15, 3 PM: Belgium v Egypt (Seattle)
6/15, 9 PM: Iran v New Zealand (Los Angeles)
6/21, 3 PM: Belgium v Iran (Los Angeles)
6/21, 9 PM: New Zealand v Egypt (Vancouver)
6/26, 11 PM: New Zealand v Belgium (Vancouver) / Egypt v Iran (Seattle)
Group Prediction
Despite the not-insignificant amount of criticism I heaped on Belgium above, I don't actually have a real issue with them, and even if I did, that wouldn't change the fact that they're the class of this group, at least. Expect tough games from Egypt and particularly Iran, but I expect the Belgians' talent gap to win the day in the second halves of those matches. And New Zealand, bless their hearts, really might be the worst team at this tournament; this is about the best possible draw they could have asked for, and I still would be surprised if they finished anywhere but last in this group. Yes, the real intrigue here lies in who between Egypt and Iran can step up and take advantage of their best opportunity to finish in the Top 2 in group play, and/or whether both of them can perform well enough to be positioned among the "best 3rd-placed teams" at least. Egypt's star power and Iran's logistical difficulties will make the Pharaohs the more popular choice, but I have a feeling Iran's tribulations are going to inspire an even closer and even more driven team.
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