If you can\u2019t see the blog, tap here.<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\nTEN MAN BELGIANS HELD<\/b><\/p>\n
Belgium were held to a scoreless draw by Iran in a frustrating encounter Sunday that saw the Red Devils reduced to 10 men and facing the possibility of group-stage elimination for a second straight World Cup.<\/p>\n
A star-studded though ageing lineup including Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku was if anything fortunate to leave Los Angeles with a point, controlling possession yet ceding the game\u2019s best chances to a resolute Iran team.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Mehdi Taremi had the ball in the net from a well-worked first-half free kick that was overturned for offside by VAR, while Nathan Ngoy was sent off after the break for hauling down the striker after a badly mis-hit backpass.<\/p>\n
The result means all three games so far in Group G have ended in draws. Stuck on two points, Belgium at least have the comfort of playing the tournament\u2019s lowest-ranked team, New Zealand, in their final group game.<\/p>\n
Iran will also need at least a point against Egypt next Friday. Having been frustrated by visa issues as they travel from their base camp in Mexico to games in the US, Team Melli will hope to focus on the football as travel restrictions are reportedly eased for their crucial trip to Seattle.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Nathan Ngoy #25 of Belgium receives a red card by Referee Dario Herrera during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Belgium and IR Iran.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFor the second Iran game running, protesters from Los Angeles\u2019 large Persian exile community gathered at the stadium to chant against the country\u2019s hardline regime.<\/p>\n
Inside the stadium, Iran\u2019s anthem again drew a chorus of boos and whistles — a reception at odds with the response to the players themselves, who were loudly cheered.<\/p>\n
Having switched to a back five, Iran sat deep in the first half, allowing Belgium to dominate possession and to play hundreds of passes around their penalty area without creating any clear-cut opportunities.<\/p>\n
Target man Lukaku, back in the starting lineup after making an impact from the bench in Belgium\u2019s 1-1 draw with Egypt, managed a solitary headed effort in the 36th minute, which sailed over the bar.<\/p>\n
Iran had the first half\u2019s two best chances, entirely against the run of play. Hossein Kanani\u2019s low shot after a long throw was well saved by an outstretched Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n
And Iran\u2019s star striker Taremi had the ball in the net midway through the half after a cleverly worked free kick, but it was ruled offside.<\/p>\n
The former Inter Milan man span away from Belgium\u2019s wall, swiveled and buried the ball, before VAR overruled the effort, to the dismay of a vocally pro-Iran crowd.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand reacts at the end of the World Cup Group G soccer match between Belgium and Iran<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAfter the break, Belgium continued to huff and puff while Taremi again nearly scored at the other end. Courtois did well to save after Kanani had flicked on a long throw to the Iran forward.<\/p>\n
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia made a triple substitution around the hour mark and his side immediately came close, Maxim De Cuyper\u2019s point-blank effort from De Bruyne\u2019s cut-back well saved.<\/p>\n
Substitute Hans Vanaken blasted a shot from a rebound well over the bar moments later, as the Red Devils finally began to knock on Iran\u2019s door in earnest.<\/p>\n
But disaster struck for Belgium as Ngoy was sent off. The center-back had badly underhit a pass back to Courtois, and raised his arm into Taremi as the striker raced through on goal.<\/p>\n
The game settled into a nervous, scrappy stalemate, though De Cuyper again came close with a low effort from just outside the box.<\/p>\n
<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nJapan set to advance after 4-0 win | 01:58<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nSPANISH SUPERSTAR SCORES ON RETURN<\/b><\/p>\n
Lamine Yamal\u2019s return sparked Spain\u2019s World Cup into life as the European champions ran riot to beat Saudi Arabia 4-0 in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Making his first start in two months after a hamstring injury, Yamal ended La Roja\u2019s long wait for a World Cup goal just 10 minutes in.<\/p>\n
Mikel Oyarzabal then struck twice to put Luis de la Fuente\u2019s men 3-0 up inside 24 minutes.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente\u2019s careful management of Yamal\u2019s minutes continued as the Barcelona superstar was replaced at half-time before Hassan al-Tambakti\u2019s own goal rounded off the scoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to recover good feelings, correct a few things from the last game, but we need to keep improving if we want to achieve our target of getting to the final on July 19,\u201d said De la Fuente.<\/p>\n
Victory propels Spain to the top of Group H ahead of Uruguay\u2019s meeting with Cape Verde later on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Billed as one of the pre-tournament favourites, Spain got off to a slow start in a 0-0 draw against debutants Cape Verde.<\/p>\n
A pedestrian performance despite dominating possession only highlighted the importance of Yamal to their quest to be world champions for a second time.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente also warned his players had been \u201cstung\u201d by the criticism they faced following their opening result and they responded emphatically.<\/p>\n
Yamal\u2019s return was one of four changes in total with Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also coming into the starting line-up.<\/p>\n
After over 2,500 passes and 50 attempts at goal since their last World Cup goal, Spain finally found the net and fittingly Yamal made the breakthrough.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Lamine Yamal celebrates with teammate Rodri after scoring his side’s opening goal during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Saudi Arabia<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n– Pressure rises on Saudis –<\/b><\/p>\n
Oyarzabal found space in behind the Saudi defence and his low cross picked out the 18-year-old to slot in at the back post.<\/p>\n
The Saudis held Uruguay 1-1 in their opening game but there was little evidence that the billions splashed to raise the level of their domestic league has aided the national team.<\/p>\n
Coach Georgios Donis looked particularly irked that two of Spain\u2019s goals came from corners.<\/p>\n
Oyarzabal pounced on Aymeric Laporte\u2019s flick-on to give the 2010 winners the breathing space they craved.<\/p>\n
Just three minutes later, the Real Sociedad forward volleyed home from Olmo\u2019s header for his 14th international goal in his last 13 caps.<\/p>\n
Oyarzabal was inches away from a first-half hat-trick when his audacious effort with the outside of his foot from a narrow angle came back off the crossbar.<\/p>\n
But with the job done by half-time, De la Fuente could afford the luxury of replacing Yamal and Oyarzabal at the break.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad we had a different result, he (Yamal) would\u2019ve played for longer but given the result and that the match was under control, we considered his contribution was enough for us to have him in the next game,\u201d added De la Fuente.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Spain’s Lamine Yamal takes a selfie after the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Saudi Arabia<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe changes did not disrupt the waves of Spanish attack towards the Saudi goal, but the fourth also came via a corner.<\/p>\n
Cucurella was afforded acres of space to shoot and although his effort was repelled by Mohammed al-Owais, the rebound deflected in off the unfortunate Tambakti.<\/p>\n
To round off an ideal afternoon for De la Fuente on his 65th birthday, Nico Williams and Mikel Merino were afforded valuable minutes off the bench in the second period as they too get up to match speed after lengthy absences due to injury.<\/p>\n
By contrast, the pressure is now on Donis to deliver in Saudi Arabia\u2019s final group game against Cape Verde in Houston.<\/p>\n
Victory will likely take the Arabian Falcons into the knockout stages for the first time since the World Cup was last in the United States 32 years ago.<\/p>\n
Spain travel to Guadalajara next for the final group game against two-time winners Uruguay on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia will learn more about its potential round-of-32 opponent on matchday 10 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Live below! A win or draw against Paraguay on Friday afternoon will put the Socceroos into a knockout stage match against the runner-up of Group G – see all the scenarios here. That group is in action […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-249409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}