Iran's national football team, led by its goalkeeper's string of saves, played to a scoreless draw against powerhouse Belgium, which was reduced to 10 men.
Iran drew 0-0 with Belgium in their second Group G match of the 2026 World Cup group stage, held at Los Angeles Stadium in California Sunday Korea time.
With the draw, Iran and Belgium each recorded their second stalemate, pushing their first chance for a win to their final group match.
Belgium and Iran, both having drawn their opening matches and desperate for a win to advance to the tournament, clashed fiercely from the early stages of the first half.
Belgium was without key forward Jeremy Doku, who was left off the matchday roster due to symptoms of a respiratory infection. Doku had earlier drawn attention when, in the second week of July, he expressed his intention to briefly leave the national team camp in England to be with his wife, who was about to give birth to their first child, and to return after witnessing the birth.
When Iran built a strong defensive wall with a "defend first, counterattack later" approach, Belgium focused on finding gaps, led by tall striker Romelu Lukaku and veteran midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
In the 9th minute, Belgium's Maxim De Cuyper struck a right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area, but it was denied by a fine save from Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Iran went on the counter and won a free kick near the right side of the penalty arc in the 25th minute. Ehsan Hajsafi played a slight forward pass, which Mehdi Taremi collected before shooting with his left foot from the front of the penalty area to find the Belgian net.
But a video assistant referee (VAR) review showed that Iran's Taremi had been slightly ahead of Belgium's last defender just before the free kick, leaving Iran to rue the disallowed goal.
A relieved Belgium continued its offensive, and in the 44th minute, De Cuyper cut into the left side of the goal area and struck a left-footed volley that hit the goalkeeper's body and bounced out, as the first half ended scoreless.
In the first half, Belgium led in possession 81% to 19% and dominated in shots with 11 (two on target) to two (one on target), but failed to break through Iran's defensive wall.
Belgium and Iran each threatened the goal at the start of the second half. In the 50th minute, off a corner kick, Belgium's Alexis Saelemaekers struck a right-footed volley from the right side of the goal area that hit the side netting of the Iran goal. In the 53rd minute, immediately after a long throw-in on the right flank, Taremi's right-footed shot from the front of the penalty area was stopped by a goalkeeper's save.
Belgium, which had been launching a one-sided offensive, ran into trouble with a red card in the 66th minute. Near the halfway line, Belgian center-back Nathan Ngoy attempted a back pass to his goalkeeper but failed to strike the ball cleanly, and just as Iran's Taremi moved quickly to take the ball, Ngoy grabbed him and brought him down. The referee immediately produced a red card for Ngoy, who had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and ordered him off.
Reduced to 10 men, Belgium took off Lukaku, who had struggled up front, and brought on defender Arthur Theate to reinforce its back line.
Iran ramped up its offensive, and in the 81st minute, Saeid Ezatolahi won the ball in midfield and unleashed a powerful right-footed long-range shot that was stopped by a goalkeeper's save, leaving Iran to settle for the scoreless draw.
