Group G features Belgium alongside African qualifiers Egypt with war-torn Iran and minnows New Zealand.
BELGIUM –
Belgium qualified winning qualifying Group J holding off a strong finish from Wales. A 4-2 win Cardiff after a thrilling 4-3 comeback win at home to the Welsh being the decisive matches after drawing twice with North Macedonia.
A 5-2 friendly win over USA in March was added to with a 1-1 draw against Mexico.
Belgium are managed by Frenchman Rudi Garcia
In goal Belgium will have Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid, with Senne Lammens of Manchester Utd as back up.
The defence is led by the experienced Timothy Castagne of Fulham, Thomas Meunier from Lillie, alongside Brighton’s Maxim De Cuyper. Brandon Mechele and Zeno Debast will likely start in central defence.
In midfield is Napoli’s former Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne alongside captain Youri Tielemans of Aston Villa and clubmate Amadou Onana. Rangers Nico Raskin is also likely to feature.
The attack is expected to be led by Romelu Lukaku if he is fit , but Belgium also have other attacking options in Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard and Charles De Ketelaere of Atalanta. Dodi Lukébakio of Benfica scored in the recent Manchester City’s winger Jérémy Doku adds in a more creative role, along with AC Milan’s Alexis Saelemaekers.
EGYPT –
Egypt qualified as winners of Group A in African qualifying winning 8 and drawing 2 of their 10 matches.
In the 2025 African Cup of Nations beat Zimbabwe and South Africa before drawing 0-0 with Angola to reach the knockout stages as group winners.
Wins over Benin after extra time and 3-2 over Ivory Coast took Egypt to the Semi Finals before losing 1-0 to Senegal.
March 2026 friendlies saw Egypt beat Saudi Arabia 4-0 and draw 0-0 with Spian.
Egypt are managed by Hossam Hassan
Mohamed El Shenawy is their experienced goalkeeper, although Mostafa Shobeir may start.
The defence includes Mohamed Hany, Ramy Rabia and Ahmed Abou El Fotouh
Egypt’s midfield includes Hamdy Fathy, Emam Ashour and former Arsenal man Mohamed Elneny.
In attack time is catching up on talisman Mo Salah and they may turn more to Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush and winger Trézéguet.
IRAN –
Iran qualified have progressed level with Uzbekistan in Second Round on 14pts from 6 games , they were drawn together again in the Third Round and both qualified automatically with Iran topping the group on 23pts from 10 games.
In March 2026 Iran lost a friendly 2-1 to Nigeria before beating Costa Rica 5-0 , both games played in Turkey
Iran manager is Amir Ghalenoei
Alireza Beiranvand is their normal goalkeeper.
In defence they have Ehsan Hajsafi, Shojae Khalilzadeh and Milad Mohammadi.
The midfield has Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Saman Ghoddos and Ali Gholizadeh.
In attack they will have captain Mehdi Taremi and Mehdi Ghayedi.
NEW ZEALAND –
New Zealand qualified having won Group B winning all three games taking them to a semi final where they beat Fiji 7-0 before beating New Caledonia in the final 3-0.
In March 2026 New Zealand hosted a FIFA series where they lost 2-0 to Finland before beating Chile 4-1
New Zealand are managed by Englishman Darren Bazeley
They have Max Crocombe of Millwall in goal, with back up from Alex Paulsen.
The defence includes Finn Surman and Tyler Bindon of Sheffield Utd
The midfield includes Marko Stamenić of Swansea and Motherwell’s Elijah Just
In attack New Zealand will be hoping Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest is fit for the World Cup however they can also call on the experienced Kosta Barbarouses.
Group F Fixtures
15/6/26 8pm Belgium v Egpyt
16/6/26 2am Iran v New Zealand
21/6/26 8pm Belgium v Iran
22/6/26 2am Egypt v New Zealand
27/6/26 4am Belgium v New Zealand
27/6/26 4am Egypt v Iran
PREDICTIONS
I think Belgium will be too good and win all three games.
It will be interesting to see how Iran will fair as they will have huge motivation playing on American soil assuming they take part.
I can see Iran beating New Zealand and getting a draw with Egypt, with Egypt and New Zealand drawing
1st Place prediction – Belgium 9pts
2nd Place prediction – Iran 4pts
3rd Place prediction – Egypt 2pts GD -2
Football is Academical 