2026 World Cup: Belgium in group with Iran, Egypt and New Zealand
The draw for next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico took place on Friday evening in the American capital, Washington. The Belgian national football team, the Red Devils, will face Iran, Egypt and New Zealand in the group stage. This seems like a favourable draw for Belgium.
Two weeks ago, on the final match day against Liechtenstein, the Red Devils qualified for the World Cup, which will be played with 48 countries for the first time. For the Belgians, this will be their seventh major tournament in a row, a record.
With the United States (Group D), Mexico (Group A) and Canada (Group B), three World Cup organisers were in pot 1, which was further supplemented by the top nine in the FIFA ranking, including Belgium. As a seed, Belgium avoids the strongest countries on paper.
As a seeded team, Belgium was already assigned to a group (letter) at the start of the World Cup draw. Belgium ended up in Group G. The Red Devils will therefore play in Vancouver, Seattle and Los Angeles at the World Cup. They will be in action on Monday 15 June, Sunday 21 June and Friday 26 June.
Belgium's first opponent in Group G was Iran, which on paper is not the most difficult opponent. The second opponent was Egypt, led by Mohamed ‘Mo’ Salah, the star player of English top club Liverpool. Finally, New Zealand, the lowest-ranked country in the World Cup, was drawn from pot four.
The winner of the group will face the number three from groups A/E/H/I or J next. The number two from the group will face the number two from group D.
As usual, a host of celebrities were called upon for the ceremony. Amongst others, US president Donald Trump stepped into the spotlight.
The full schedule will not be known until Saturday evening, when part two of the draw takes place. Amongst others, the kick-off times for the matches will then be announced. This is important as some matches will be played after midnight.
Tom Brady shows the card reading Belgium during the draw for the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup © PHOTO Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP