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Belgium and Egypt secured their spots in the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup this Friday, while Iran temporarily advances as the best third-placed team and New Zealand has been eliminated after the third matchday of the .
The two matches of the final day were held simultaneously: Belgium thrashed New Zealand 5-1 at BC Place in Vancouver, and Egypt and Iran drew 1-1 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
The final standings were as follows: Belgium first with five points and a goal difference of +4; Egypt second with five points and +2; Iran third with three points and a neutral goal difference; and New Zealand last with one point and -6.
The decisive factor for the top position was Belgium's thrashing of New Zealand, which allowed the Red Devils to surpass Egypt in goal difference and take the lead in the group. Belgium recorded up to 26 shots in that match, a crushing dominance that contrasted with their two previous draws against Egypt (1-1) and Iran (0-0).
The match between Egypt and Iran was the most tense of the day. Mahmoud Saber opened the scoring for the Africans in the fifth minute, but Ramin Rezaeian equalized for the Iranians just six minutes later. In added time, Shoja Khalilzadeh scored what seemed to be the winning goal for Iran, but VAR disallowed it in the 90+3 minute, keeping the match tied. Mehdi Taremi also missed a penalty during the game.
The journey of Egypt throughout the group stage included a historic milestone: the 3-1 victory over New Zealand on the second day marked the first victory for the Egyptian national team in the history of the World Cup.
Iran completed the group stage without a single loss, but also without a single victory: three consecutive draws give them three points, which could be enough to advance as one of the eight best third-placed teams in the tournament, although that spot depends on the results of the other groups.
Group G was the only one in the tournament where all four teams arrived with mathematical chances of qualifying for the final matchday, making this doubleheader one of the most competitive in the group stage.
As for the matchups in the round of 32, the opponents of Belgium and Egypt have not yet been confirmed, as the complete bracket depends on the results of other groups that have not yet concluded their group stage.
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