Group G's General Discussion Thread

Iran v Belgium 0:0 FT
Belgium got a red card around the 70th minute mark, but Iran wasn't able to capitalize on it despite making some offensive substitutions. Overall, while Belgium had better chances to score and much of the possession and shots, Iran did alright denying them scoring chances for the most part. They did have one excellent chance and a lot of half chances but nothing really extraordinary.

I will wait to see how New Zealand does against Egypt. I wouldn't be surprised if we have all teams tied with two points after this round.

 

All 4 of these teams should be sent home. They’re all rubbish.

 

Possibly the weakest group in a while.

 

Not a bad result. Hopefully Iran can pull off a win against Egypt.

 

Belgium is like a completely different team entering the tournament compared to prior. If this is actually how they play, then I don't see why New Zealand will not be able to hold them to a draw. New Zealand's defense is as strong, if not stronger, than Iran's. The final standings of this group may look weird and it make come down to goal differential. Egypt is increasingly looking like they will top the group.

 

Nice result. Im surprised Iran parked the bus Although im happy they did. Because the players arent good enough to play otherwise which we saw against New Zealand. I would prefer is we were better on counters but the players were old and slow. There is not much to do about that.
shame the goal was offside. And what a performance by the goalkeeper.

The Egypt game will be very tough. I hope 1 point will be enough

 

Good draw for Iran, ideally they should have tried to get the win against 10 man Belgium.

Im going to the Egypt match

Belgium is super over rated. Fifa seems to think we are still in 2018 when they had a really good team. They've been pretty rubbish since.

 

Great point for you guys, I definitely agreed with the Fox coverage that the second you guys went up a man it seemed like your attackers were caught of two minds: whether to play to win, or take advantage of the opportunity to lock up the point, and it seemed to really neuter your attacks and decision making in the final third, the kind of equivocated interests involved.

The value of this game always looked like simply "not too bad of a GD created by a loss to Belgium," so to be able scrap a point out of it and neutral goal differential is a huge win, otoh, Egypt is just better in my view, so maybe going for the win always made more sense, since either way you'll need something from the match with Iran.

All that being said, getting a draw with Belgium was a fabulous result. Very happy for you guys and the Persian friends I grew up with in California.

 

Not sure why everyone is glazing Beiranvand. He had 2 good saves but they were really not that exceptional, most keepers would keep them out. All the shots went straight to him. And against New Zealand he was a bit shaky.

 

Egypt doesn’t appear to be playing well so far either. This whole group is terrible. These teams should all get grouped.

 

early in the first half, New Zealand have had several excellent chances and are up 1:0.

 

New Zealand is looking like a team determined to make it to their first knockout stage of a World Cup.

 

Heading into the World Cup, Belgium had defeated Tunisia 5:0, Croatia 2:0, had a 1:1 draw with Mexico and before that a 5:2 win over the US. Hardly results that show them being in poor form or not belonging among the teams that will make the next round in this tournament.

Egypt, which had finished 4th in AFCON, had these results heading to the World Cup: 4:0 win over Saudi Arabia, 0:0 draw with Spain, 1:0 win over Russia, and 1:2 loss against Brazil. They also came to the tournament looking good.

Iran, despite war and all the issues it faces, also came into the tournament after getting the following results in its last 4 matches: 1:2 loss to Nigeria, 5:0 win over Costa Rica, 3:1 win over Gambia, and 2:0 win over Mali. Pretty good results as well.

New Zealand's results, on the other hand, were all over the place. But I saw them a few times and in the games I watched from them, they were decent and capable. I never saw them as a pushover. I certainly didn't think they would be hopeless against Egypt, a team they are beating at halftime.

I don't know what is the best result for Iran in this match, but I guess I am rooting for a draw between Egypt and New Zealand. I just hope the draw will not be a high scoring one given the scoreless draw between Iran and Belgium and the role of "goals scored" as one of the tie breakers: 1:1 draw would suit me fine although that would then take us to the next tie breaker if Iran and Egypt draw their match in Seattle, namely disciplinary cautions etc.

If Egypt lose to New Zealand, that would then mean Iran could finish 3rd in the group simply drawing Egypt (assuming Belgium beat New Zealand, which is likely IM0). But I am not sure Iran finishing third with 3 points and a 0 GD would be enough for it to finish as among the top 3rd place teams?

Of course, if Iran manage to defeat Egypt, none of this will matter and Iran will make the next round for sure with 5 points. Iran could obviously beat Egypt, but here is where the "conditions" Iran is forced to play in right now (with travel and not much rest between hopping between Tijuana and match day games) starting to probably affect it given that Seattle (unlike LA) is not that close to the Mexican border. I hope Iran will be allowed to have a normal stay over in Seattle before it plays its game against Egypt.

 

1-1

 

This is the type of game you expect Salah to control and dominate. He is looking more and more like he has lost a step (or two) and is not doing anything to help his team.

 

As soon as I read this he scored.

2-1 Egypt.

 

Jinxed myself.

That is the skill he has left. Popping up and making a big moment. I still believe he has clearly lost a few steps but glad to see him having a big moment.

 

Even a 2:2 draw would mean Iran has to beat Egypt to finish above them given the goals scored tie breaker. Given that they are leading 2:1 now, its probably best for Iran if they hold on to their lead and win the match.

 

3-1 Egypt.
Taking control of the match and maybe the Group.

 

Another group that will have an interesting 3rd matchday. Only Egypt look safe to advance. Everyone else needs a result.

 

The standings in this group will show:

1. Egypt 4p +2GD (4GG, 2GA)
2. Iran 2p 0GD (2GF, 2GA)
3. Belgium 2p 0GD (1GF, 1GA)
4. New Zealand 1p -2GD (3GF, 5GA)

Iran will have to beat Egypt to advance. But if we beat Egypt, we are definitely one of the top 2 teams in the group regardless of other results. If we fail to beat Egypt but get a draw, assuming Belgium beat New Zealand (very likely), Iran will likely finish 3rd and we will then have to see if 3 points and 0 GD are enough to finish among the top third place teams? If we lose to Egypt, we might still finish 3rd but I am sure we won't make the next round.