Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei bemoaned his side’s preparations but praised his players as they stayed unbeaten at the 2026 World Cup following a battling 0-0 draw with Belgium in Los Angeles.
The political situation surrounding Iran means they had to move their training base to Tijuana and are forced to travel in and out of the US directly before and after games.
So far, they have managed a 2-2 draw with New Zealand and Sunday's stalemate with Belgium, and now head into their final group game against Egypt with qualification still alive.
The local Iranian supporters who attended SoFi Stadium in Inglewood loudly booed the Iranian anthem, while the majority of the players chose to sing. But when the match started, the local fans threw their support behind the team.
Ghalenoei said that constant disruptions ahead of their participation at the World Cup, plus the travel restrictions imposed by the US, mean his team is at a significant disadvantage.
He said: “I want to go back six months. We were in war conditions for six months – we didn't have our league operating. Many teams cancelled the games they would play against us. We came to the World Cup in the worst conditions possible.
“The players who came to this World Cup in this condition need to be congratulated,” he added. “We had the opportunity to win [against Belgium] but I think this is a great achievement.
“We have had two games at the World Cup with the conditions we had – we had less than 16 hours to do training before the game. This will be written in the history of our football and future generations will talk about what we have achieved.”
Wasteful Belgium run into Beiranvand
The stalemate means both sides have now drawn two games and will need to find a result with everything still to play for in Group G.
Iran weathered early pressure as Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne went close before posing serious questions of their own.
Thibaut Courtois did well to push away Hossein Kanani’s effort and Iran then found the net with an inventive free-kick.
Ehsan Hajisafi shaped to shoot from 25 yards but instead played a pass to Mehdi Taremi, who created a gap between the wall and a defender and rolled the ball past Courtois. Iran’s joy was cut short by a VAR check that showed Taremi was marginally offside.
Courtois came to Belgium’s rescue again in the second half by denying the lively Taremi, while Alireza Beiranvand made two excellent saves from Maxim De Cuyper to secure a crucial point.
Belgium also had defender Nathan Ngoy sent off. Ngoy was dismissed after 66 minutes when he carelessly lost control of the ball and stopped Taremi bearing down on the Red Devils’ goal.
Belgium boss Rudi Garcia said: “We weren’t efficient enough. We had many attempts, but when you’re down a man you have to be organised because 10 versus 11 is hard.
“Now we have to turn to the next match. We have to rest because we played 10 versus 11 for 30 minutes, but we need to beat New Zealand to move to the Round of 32.”
What's next?
Both teams can still qualify when they play their final Group G games. Iran face Egypt knowing a win would guarantee progress, while a point could be enough, although it would depend on results elsewhere, with only the eight best third-placed teams going through.
Belgium face a similar scenario against New Zealand in Vancouver, with them needing a win over the Kiwis to be sure of progress.
