Belgium 0-0 Iran: Beiranvand Stars as Ngoy Sees Red

Belgium had 23 shots, an xG approaching two, and a clear edge in everything but the only number that counts. Iran had Alireza Beiranvand, a back four that refused to break, and at the final whistle, top spot in Group G.

A 0-0 draw at SoFi Stadium was a study in resistance. Belgium dominated, lost Nathan Ngoy to a red card, and still could not find a way through a packed Iranian defence and an inspired goalkeeper. Iran took the point, added it to their opening 2-2, and moved to the front of the group nobody expected them to lead.

For Belgium it was a second draw in two games and a growing sense that chances created are not the same as chances taken.

What happened in Belgium vs Iran?

Belgium dominated the ball and the territory and created the better openings throughout. They finished with 23 shots and an xG of roughly 1.8 — the profile of a team that should win comfortably. Iran’s plan was the opposite: stay compact, protect the box, and trust their goalkeeper.

The closest either side came to a goal that counted was ruled out. Mehdi Taremi turned in a well-worked free-kick, only for a VAR check to flag him offside. Beyond that it was Belgian pressure against Iranian defiance, and the defiance held.

The game’s shape changed when Ngoy was dismissed, but not its outcome. Even a man up for the final half-hour-plus, Iran could not — and did not need to — turn pressure into a winner. A point each, and Iran the happier for it.

How good was Alireza Beiranvand?

Decisive. Beiranvand made seven saves, and at least one of them will live in the tournament’s highlight reel — a one-handed stop from a prone position to deny Maxim De Cuyper from point-blank range early in the second half. It was the kind of save that wins a team a point on its own.

His value was not only in the spectacular. Beiranvand commanded his area, claimed crosses under pressure, and gave a defence that spent most of the night under siege the calm of knowing the last line was secure. Against a Belgian attack with this much quality, a goalkeeper having a night like that is worth more than any tactical tweak.

Thibaut Courtois was busy too at the other end, but it was Beiranvand’s name on the man-of-the-match conversation. Iran’s point was built on his hands.

Did Ngoy’s red card change the game?

It changed the maths more than the pattern. Ngoy was sent off for bringing down Taremi after a misjudged back pass, leaving Belgium to play a long stretch with ten men. On paper that should have invited an Iran winner.

Instead it barely registered. Iran were set up to defend a point, not chase a victory, and the dismissal simply reinforced the night’s logic: Belgium pressing, Iran holding. The Red Devils still carried the greater threat even down a man, which says something about both Belgium’s quality and Iran’s discipline.

The honest read is that the red card neither rescued Iran nor sank Belgium. The clean sheet was already being earned the hard way before it.

What does the draw mean for Group G?

It rearranges the group in Iran’s favour. Two points from two games, and Iran sit top — a return built on the 2-2 draw with New Zealand and now this resilient point against the group’s heavyweights.

Belgium, by contrast, have drawn both and trail on goal difference, the attacking blueprint producing chances but not points. A side with this much firepower drawing two straight is the kind of start that turns a final group game into a must-win.

For Iran it is the reverse — control of their own fate going into the last round, earned on a defiant night in Los Angeles. Belgium will feel they should have buried it. Iran will not care how it looked, only where it left them: on top.