2026 World Cup: Belgium win Group G thanks to Lukaku goal — Iran fail in VAR woes
Belgium topped Group G with a Lukaku goal in a tense affair between the three teams. Iran could not get the second place as the goal scored in the stoppage time was disallowed by VAR decision. Egypt got a direct result for the second time out of the group.
The final matches of Group G have an interesting conclusion to the 2026 World Cup. In the space of 30 minutes, Vancouver and Seattle saw position changes between Belgium, Egypt, and Iran. While that was the case at the start of the night, Egypt led the group, then Belgium took the lead, then Egypt took the lead again, then again Belgium came out on top to eventually win the group.
Belgium started the match very innocently. Belgium dominated the first half of their fixture against New Zealand in Vancouver — taking a 14-0 advantage in shots. Leandro Trossard put them ahead with the first goal in the 28th minute. Trossard scored another goal later in the period and Kevin De Bruyne quickly put the team in the lead with a beautiful goal.
The group table was still tense at the time: New Zealander Elijah Just scored a goal in the 84th minute to create a chance for Egypt — a goal that sent Seattle into a frenzy because individual results affect the points table. But within a minute, Romelu Lukaku scored the winner to put an end to those hopes. Meanwhile, Alexis Salamekers scored the last goal in stoppage time to wrap up the match.
Egypt got off to a good start in another key match in Seattle: Mahmoud Saber scored in the 5th minute. A few minutes later Iran gets a penalty — Mohamed Abdelmonem is awarded a penalty by the referee for a foul on Egypt captain Mehdi Taremi in the box. But Mehdi Taremi's penalty attempt was brilliantly saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir — one of her first great serves.
Still, it was not too late for Iran to go for the equalizer: Ramin Rezayan expertly headed home the rebound after Shobeir made another save in the 14th minute. The suspense continued towards the end of the match; Iran was aggressive with two shots hitting the crossbar.
Iran scored a goal in the match's stoppage time to make it 1-1 2-1, but VAR stepped in and ruled out the goal as offside — unfortunately Iran were unable to secure the three points. That decision brought decisive grief for Iran: VAR was controversial as the small margin was a fraction of a hand, meaning only a close difference between a hand and a foot.
Uncertainty has persisted since the opening of the group — Belgium-Egypt and Iran-New Zealand both ended in draws on the first matchday, sending the message that the group is in no one's hands. Belgium have been regarded as one of the most disappointing teams in the tournament so far — they have scored just one goal in the matches leading up to Friday, scoring five goals in the match to top the group.
It is also noteworthy that Egypt have historically progressed from the group: they are unbeaten in their last four World Cup appearances; This time they stood in a state where they were able to continue traveling over the group. Although Belgium looked the better early on, world titles such as Gandhi could not change their defeat — although they had momentum ahead of the start of the knockout round.
Group G has become tight at times due to changes in fixtures and points table. This finish somehow signaled that a long run is not a feasible goal for mediocre teams.
Key players (match impact): Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard, Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium); Mahmoud Saber, Mehdi Taremi, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Ramin Rezayan (Egypt/Iran); Eliza Just, Alexis Salemakers (New Zealand/Belgium).
The result saw the Group G standings decide the teams going into the second leg in as many ways as they had already seen — but a last-minute VAR decision spelled misery for Iran.