Belgium 0-0 Iran: 10-men Red Devils equalize with Persian Cheetahs as both keepers make crazy saves

Ten-man Belgium were frustrated by a resolute Iran, who saw a Mehdi Taremi goal disallowed in the first half, in their 0-0 draw at the World Cup.

Match Report

The first-ever meeting between the sides saw a second-half red card for Nathan Ngoy and plenty of chances apiece, but neither could claim their first win in Group G.

Belgium dominated in the opening stages, but it was Iran who had the better of the early chances, with Hossein Kanani's drive forcing Thibaut Courtois into a fine save.

From the resulting corner, Saeid Ezatolahi rose highest at the back post, but he could only thump his header wide from close range, while Youri Tielemans tried his luck from a tight angle at the other end, only to be thwarted by Alireza Beiranvand.

Belgium survived a scare in the 25th minute. A cleverly worked short free-kick from Ehsan Hajisafi was threaded into Taremi, who spun to coolly slot past Courtois one-on-one, but a VAR check showed he had just set off too early.

Kevin De Bruyne and Maxim De Cuyper both saw volleys smothered by Beiranvand as Belgium pushed for a goal before the break that never came.

Belgium then picked up where they left off in the second half, with Alexis Saelemaekers peeling away at the back post to volley a De Bruyne corner into the side netting.

Courtois – on his 17th World Cup appearance – saved Belgium again shortly after, pushing away Taremi's lovely volley, but Beiranvand was equally impactful at the other end, stretching out a strong hand to keep out De Cuyper's poked attempt.

Ngoy's 66th-minute lapse in concentration proved costly; Taremi pounced on his terrible attempted backpass from just inside Belgium's half before the defender dragged him back, receiving a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Courtois got down to keep out Ezatolahi's long-range drive, while Beiranvand held De Cuyper's low curler before Dodi Lukebakio bent an effort wide as the sides were forced to share the points in Los Angeles.

Belgium get lucky after lacking golden touch

While Belgium had to come from behind to earn their draw with Egypt last time out, Jeremy Doku had been a bright spark, and his absence against Iran through illness was sorely felt.

Leandro Trossard created six chances, while De Bruyne made three and had 34 passes in the final third, but neither could find the key to unlocking Iran's defence.

And it was another frustrating outing for Romelu Lukaku, who was rewarded with a start after forcing the own-goal equaliser last time out. He has now gone eight games without a World Cup goal, with his last goal coming in 2018.

Rudi Garcia will be worried about Belgium's disjointedness up front. They have now had 69 shots without success, having 23 against Iran (worth 1.82 expected goals), and are winless in their last four World Cup matches.

Iran's experience paid off, however. With an average age of 32 years and 181 days, it was the oldest XI named in a World Cup match in history (since 1966), and they threw bodies on the line to keep Belgium at bay. Though they may feel unlucky to walk away with only a point, especially after Taremi's great chances even before Belgium went down to 10.

Line-ups

Belgium XI: Courtois, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Meunier, Trossard, Mechele, Tielemans, Nicolas Raskin, Alexis Saelemaekers, Maxim De Cuyper, Nathan Ngoy

Subs: Witsel, Vanaken, Castagne, Dodi Lukébakio, Amadou Onana, Senne Lammens, De Ketelaere, Koni De Winter, Arthur Theate, Diego Moreira, Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Mike Penders, Joaquin Seys

Iran XI: E. Hajsafi, R. Rezaeian, Shoja Khalilzadeh, M. Taremi, S. Ghoddos, Hossein Kanaani, A. Beiranvand, S. Ezatolahi, Ali Nemati, Mohammad Mohebi, Saleh Hardani

Subs: Seyed Hossein Hosseini, Jahanbakhsh, Ali Alipour, M. Torabi, R. Cheshmi, Dennis Eckert Ayensa, Milad Mohammadi, Payam Niazmand, Mehdi Ghayedi, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Mohammad Ghorbani, Arya Yousefi, Danial Eiri, Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, Shahriar Moghanlou