EgyptvsIR Iran

Result

Mahmoud Saber's early volley was cancelled out by Ramin Rezaeian inside the opening quarter-hour, and a tense Group G finale finished honours even. Iran thought they had snatched it deep in stoppage time through Shoja Khalilzadeh, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review. The point sends Egypt through in second place to a round-of-32 meeting with Australia, while Iran are left to sweat on the best-third-placed standings.

Egypt 4-2-3-15-4-1 IR Iran

Egypt

IR Iran

Mahmoud Saber5'

Ramin Rezaeian14'

Mahmoud Saber20'

Hossein Kanani19'

Yasser Ibrahim42'

Ali Nemati43'

Mohanad Lashin90'+2'

Saeid Ezatolahi79'

Shoja Khalilzadeh90'+4'

61%Possession39%

15Shots13

3On target4

2Saves2

8Corners2

513Passes completed281

87%Pass accuracy77%

17Tackles22

28Touches in box26

Substitutions

Yasser Ibrahimfor Mohamed Abdelmoneimat 14'

Saleh Hardanifor Hossein Kananiat 45'

Marawan Attiafor Mahmoud Saberat 45'

Shahriyar Moghanloofor Saman Ghoddosat 67'

Omar Marmoushfor Emam Ashourat 45'

Alireza Jahanbakhshfor Mohammad Mohebbiat 90'+1'

Zizofor Mohamed Salahat 57'

Hamza Abdelkarimfor Mostafa Zicoat 76'

At this Stage

Group G ended as it lived — tightly, and mostly level. Belgium's 5-1 rout of New Zealand, their first win after two draws, vaulted them from third to first: five points, level with Egypt, separated only by goal difference, +4 to +2. Egypt's tense 1-1 with IR Iran in Seattle — nearly stolen at the death before VAR ruled out Khalilzadeh's stoppage-time goal — was exactly enough for second and a round-of-32 place. Iran leave the group stage with the tournament's oddest line: played three, drew three, beaten by nobody, and now parked in the best-third waiting room while other groups decide what unbeaten is worth. New Zealand finish bottom on one point. Four draws in six matches, and the sorting still came down to margins: both qualifiers won exactly once, and Belgium simply won bigger.

Group G

Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
Belgium	3	1	2	0	+4	5
Egypt	3	1	2	0	+2	5
IR Iran	3	0	3	0	+0	3
New Zealand	3	0	1	2	-6	1

Top two (above the accent line) advance to the round of 32; the third-placed team is in the race for one of the eight best-third spots.

What we know now

What I said beforehand

The preview, frozen at kickoff. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the predictions worth anything.

A draw feels right in a tight Group G finale. Egypt sit on four points and can qualify by keeping the match controlled, while IR Iran have drawn twice and have made every opponent work through traffic. Salah and Marmoush give Egypt the higher ceiling, but Taremi and Iran's set defensive shape make a clean Egyptian win hard to call. 1-1.

Both cases written 2026-06-25, before kickoff — they freeze into the record exactly as written, however the match goes. The percentages are mine, quoted to a decimal because false precision is funnier — the unclaimed 34% belongs to the draw.