Group G – „the Red Devils“, the Egyptian King, and how will Iran be greeted by the USA?

World Cup Group G matches will take place in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Vancouver.

Iran

Although Iran is not considered one of the major football nations, it was precisely because of this country’s participation in the football championship that passions ran high in recent months. And they still do.

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According to the current situation, Iranian footballers are preparing to play in the World Cup, despite the ongoing military pressure from the USA on the Iranian dictatorship.

The participation of the Iranians, who are in Group G along with Belgium, New Zealand, and Egypt, is surrounded by many questions. In March, the Iranian embassy in Mexico City stated that the country was negotiating with FIFA to move the group matches to the Mexican capital, but football authorities declared that the matches would take place as planned.

Currently, Iranian footballers are training in Turkey, and during the championship, they will live in Mexico, from where they will travel to matches in the USA.

“Honestly, it’s not easy,” Saeid Ezatolahi, a midfielder for the Iranian national team who has already played in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, commented to AP. “For me and some other more experienced players, it might be a bit easier, but in the end, it will be difficult because we follow the news from our country and political events, and that can affect the footballers’ minds.”

Even before the war in Iran, one of the Group G matches caused confusion. On June 26, Iran will play Egypt in Seattle, and the same weekend, “Pride” parades for the LGBTQ+ community are scheduled in the aforementioned US city. Representatives of both countries complained to FIFA about this celebration, claiming it was inappropriate for their religion and culture. In Iran, gays and lesbians are brutally punished, including with the death penalty.

The Iranian national team qualified for their fourth consecutive World Cup, and they approach this championship with good results – coached by former footballer Amir Ghalenoei, the Iranians lost only one match in the Asian qualifiers.

The team is led by captain Mehdi Taremi, who has scored 57 goals in 102 matches for the national team. The 33-year-old forward, currently playing for the Greek club “Olympiakos”, has previously played for “Porto” and “Inter Milan”. Also, pay attention to midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who plays for the Belgian club “Dender”.

There is no doubt that the shadow of the war in Iran will loom over this team. Before a friendly match against Nigeria in March, Iranian footballers brought small purple children’s backpacks onto the field, honoring the victims killed by a deadly bomb that fell on an elementary school on February 28 during the playing of the anthems. Evidence suggests it was an American-dropped bomb.

Despite the war, Iran’s training camp is scheduled in Tucson, Arizona, and their first match against New Zealand will take place in Inglewood, near Los Angeles.

Belgium

Belgium will play in the World Cup for the 15th time, and their highest achievement so far was third place in 2018, when their journey was halted in the semi-finals by the French, who then became champions.

For many years, Belgium, with high ambitions due to its golden generation of players, failed to advance from the group stage in the last championship. Overall, Belgium is the only team that has topped the FIFA rankings (reaching first place in 2015) but has never won a World Cup or European Championship.

Now, its squad will consist of a mix of rising stars and famous veterans.

Among the young players, “Manchester City” forward Jeremy Doku stands out, while among experienced players, none can match the status of Kevin De Bruyne.

The 34-year-old midfielder, who played for “Napoli” last season, has scored 36 goals in 117 matches for the national team. He recently returned to the field after an injury to begin his fourth World Cup.

Romelu Lukaku, who had been recovering from an injury for even longer, raised more questions, but the 33-year-old forward, also representing “Napoli”, has been included in the squad. R. Lukaku has scored as many as 89 goals for the Belgian national team, 5 of them in World Cups.

Furthermore, the Belgian goal is defended by Thibaut Courtois, considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world, who has triumphed twice in the Champions League with Real Madrid during his career.

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Having defeated the US national team 5:2 in a rehearsal match in March, Belgium is clearly considered the strongest team in Group G. The “Red Devils”, coached by Frenchman Rudi Garcia, will start the championship on June 15 with a match against Egypt in Seattle.

Egypt

Egyptian footballers have not won a single match in their three World Cup appearances.

Last time, all eyes were on national team captain Mohamed Salah in 2018, but the “Liverpool” star missed the first matches due to a shoulder injury sustained in the Champions League final.

The Egyptian national team is coached by Hossam Hassan, the all-time top scorer for the Egyptian national team, with 69 goals during his career.

In this World Cup, M. Salah will again be in the spotlight, also because after nine seasons in Liverpool, he announced he was leaving the English club, where he became the all-time top scorer in the team’s history.

M. Salah is the all-time top foreign scorer in the “Premier League”, and also the African player with the most goals in the Champions League.

While the 33-year-old footballer, dubbed the King of Egypt, is surrounded by unanswered questions about his future, there is no doubt that even more microphones and cameras will be pointed at M. Salah during the championship.

New Zealand

The Oceania team holds the lowest position in the group according to the FIFA ranking, sitting at 85th place.

By the way, in 2019, during a friendly match in Vilnius, the Lithuanian national team defeated New Zealand 1:0, winning after a goal by Arvydas Novikovas and celebrating a rare victory.

The New Zealanders qualified for the World Cup for the third time, having previously played in 1982 and 2010. They failed to advance from the group stage then.

Team captain Chris Wood has scored 45 goals, but in the last season, the 34-year-old forward missed five months due to an injury, unable to help the English club “Nottingham Forest”.

In New Zealand, it is hoped that the emotional leader of the team will manage to gain the necessary form for this World Cup.

By the way, Ch. Wood is one of only two remaining players in the national team from 2010, when the New Zealanders showed character by drawing three matches in the group with Slovakia, Italy, and Paraguay (they then surpassed the Italians in the group, but did not advance themselves). The other New Zealander who played in the tournament 16 years ago is 36-year-old defender Tommy Smith.

In their last friendly matches in March, the New Zealanders lost 0:2 to Finland but defeated Chile 4:1.

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