Belgium's Romelu Lukaku, right, reacts during the World Cup Group G soccer match between Belgium and Iran in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026 -

By Africanews

with AP

Last updated: 1 hour ago

World Cup 2026

Iran's World Cup has been tumultuous off the field, and its play on the pitch still hasn't produced a victory.

Yet Team Melli's dream of advancing to a World Cup knockout round for the first time is still very much alive, thanks to an afternoon of brilliance from goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand in a 0-0 draw with Belgium on Sunday.

In a World Cup that has already produced several memorable goalkeeping performances, Beiranvand joined the group with seven saves against the Red Devils. His one-handed stop from a prone position on Maxim De Cuyper's point-blank shot early in the second half should rank among the highlight saves of the tournament — and De Cuyper was denied yet again by Beiranvand on a golden opportunity in the 86th minute.

“He’s one of our greatest goalkeepers in the history of Iranian football, and he has achieved many things,” Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said. “He’s extremely intelligent, very experienced, and he had one of his best days today.”

But his teammates couldn't come up with the goal that would have produced a historic victory, not even after Belgium went down to 10 men in the second half. Defender Nathan Ngoy received a straight red card in the 66th minute when he miskicked a ball backward and then fouled Mehdi Taremi to prevent the Iran star from getting a clean breakaway scoring chance.

Belgium actually generated better scoring opportunities down the stretch while finishing with 23 shots, but both teams left with their second straight draw in group play.

So while neither team was fully happy with the result at SoFi Stadium, Iran drew many more positives.

“The feeling in the dressing room is we could have even get more than what we got today,” Iran midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh said. “But we are very, very happy with the performance we had as a team. I think we showed a great team spirit.”

World Cup: Iran and Belgium Play 0-0 Draw, Belgium Player Red Card

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