Group G at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is headlined by two of the most recognisable names in world football — Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah — facing each other when Belgium meet Egypt in Seattle on 15 June. It is a fixture that encapsulates what this group represents: a contest between ageing talent navigating one final opportunity at football’s biggest stage.
Iran make their seventh World Cup appearance but have never progressed past the group stage. New Zealand return for only their third finals, bringing a modest historical record but genuine ambition under their English coach. With the supercomputer projecting Belgium and Egypt as the likeliest qualifiers, the questions are whether the other two can spring a surprise — and whether Belgium’s so-called Golden Generation has enough left to make a meaningful impact.
The group begins on 15 June when Belgium face Egypt in Seattle, with Iran and New Zealand kicking off later the same day.
Group G Overview: De Bruyne, Salah, and a Generation in Transition
| Team | World Cup Appearances | Best Result | Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Multiple | Fourth place (1986) | Rudi Garcia |
| Egypt | 4th | Group stage (best) | Hossam Hassan |
| Iran | 7th (5th in 21st century) | Group stage (best) | Amir Ghalenoei |
| New Zealand | 3rd | Group stage (unbeaten in 2010) | Darren Bazeley |
Belgium: Golden Generation’s Last Hurrah?
The State of Play
Belgium were once ranked No. 1 in the world, blessed with one of the most gifted collections of footballers any nation has produced in the modern era. That generation — built around Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, and a decorated supporting cast — won the admiration of the footballing world without winning the only trophy that would have cemented their legacy.
In 2026, what remains of that generation arrives in various states of physical condition and at various points of decline.
Thibaut Courtois (34) is still regarded among the world’s best goalkeepers but missed two months of last season with a thigh injury, returning only in May. Kevin De Bruyne (34, turning 35 during the tournament) also suffered severe thigh problems, managing just 13 Serie A starts for Napoli. Romelu Lukaku (33) failed to start a single Napoli match last season after a series of injuries and was publicly described as being “out of shape” by Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia. Axel Witsel (37) and Thomas Meunier (34) are still involved, though they were never in the same category as the trio above.
We give Belgium a very high chance of progressing from Group G.
Qualification
Belgium qualified with relative ease — unbeaten across eight games despite two draws each against North Macedonia and Kazakhstan. The path was never going to be demanding, given it has been a decade since they last lost a competitive qualifier. Their most notable results were 4-3 and 4-2 wins over Wales, who were their closest challengers in the group.
The Coach: Rudi Garcia
The Frenchman took over in January from Domenico Tedesco, who failed to build meaningfully on Roberto Martinez’s six-year tenure. Garcia — who won the French title with Lille in 2011, finished second in Serie A twice with Roma (2014, 2015), and took Lyon to the Champions League semi-finals in 2020 by defeating Manchester City — has brought fresh optimism into the Belgian camp with a clear possession and counter-pressing philosophy. He has been bold in promoting new faces, including Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin and Club Brugge full-back Joaquin Seys.
His most recent major role before Belgium was at Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr, where he departed after 10 months amid reported tensions with Cristiano Ronaldo.
How They Play
Garcia has settled on a 4-3-3 — a departure from Tedesco’s frequent formation changes. The wide options available to him are genuinely strong: Jérémy Doku, Leandro Trossard, Charles De Ketelaere, and Alexis Saelemaekers offer real variety and pace on the flanks. The defensive rebuild is well underway: Zeno Debast (Sporting CP), Koni De Winter (Milan), and Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton) are the new generation replacing the ageing back line of Kompany, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, and Vermaelen.
The team has been set up to feed Doku as often as possible, given his unrivalled ability in one-versus-one situations. De Bruyne, when fully fit, provides the passing vision and threat from deep. Lukaku’s role is being managed cautiously — in their warm-up win over Croatia, Garcia continued with De Ketelaere as a more dynamic focal point with Lukaku on the bench.
Key Player: Jérémy Doku
Doku (Manchester City, 23) is the generational shift made visible. He started all eight qualifying games, scoring five and assisting three while switching between flanks with extraordinary effectiveness. In qualifying, he completed 47 dribbles — at least 20 more than any other European player — and recorded 110 touches in the opposition box — at least 42 more than any competitor. He is electric, direct, and increasingly taking on the leadership responsibilities that De Bruyne once monopolised.
De Bruyne, despite his limitations at 34, still provides a unique level of passing vision and big-game experience. The Belgian midfield could be transformed by a fully fit De Bruyne — but how much of him they actually have remains the key uncertainty.
Courtois Return and Internal Tensions
Courtois is back in the squad after his controversial refusal to play under Tedesco — the Real Madrid goalkeeper had publicly stated in August 2024 that he would not add to his then 102 caps while Tedesco remained in the job. The dispute lasted just over six months before Garcia smoothed the relationship. However, Belgium’s history of internal conflict is notable: De Bruyne and Vertonghen clashed at the 2022 World Cup over the midfielder’s public comments about their ageing defence.
Squad Concerns
Garcia left out several talented players in controversial decisions. Romeo Lavia (Chelsea), Arthur Vermeeren (Marseille), and Mandela Keita (Parma) were all excluded from midfield, with 37-year-old Witsel preferred. Malick Fofana (Lyon) and Lois Openda (RB Leipzig) were omitted from the attack. Most strikingly, Mika Godts — an Ajax creator who registered 32 goals and assists in 44 club games — was overlooked despite his outstanding season.
| Belgium Key Players | Age | Club | Current Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thibaut Courtois | 34 | Real Madrid | Missed 2 months with thigh injury |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 34 | Napoli | Severe thigh problems; only 13 Serie A starts |
| Romelu Lukaku | 33 | Napoli | Failed to start a league game; described as “out of shape” |
| Jérémy Doku | 23 | Man City | Excellent form; primary Belgium threat |
| Charles De Ketelaere | — | Atalanta | Dynamic option; operated as centre-forward in warm-up |
Egypt: Salah’s Final World Cup Act
Egypt are expected to be Belgium’s main challengers in Group G and are supposed to be progressing with a vague chance of topping the group.
Their historical World Cup record is one of the most modest in the competition. Only Honduras (9 matches) have played more World Cup games without winning one than Egypt’s seven. Egypt first participated in 1934 — the first Arab and African nation to do so — but have qualified only twice since (1990, 2018), winning zero matches across those three appearances.
The 2018 World Cup was particularly painful. Salah entered the tournament with a shoulder injury suffered in the Champions League final and Egypt lost all three group matches.
Qualification
Egypt lost nothing in Group A of the African qualifiers — eight wins and two draws, qualifying with games to spare. They sealed top spot with a 3-0 win over Djibouti (two Salah goals). Burkina Faso chased them throughout but a 0-0 draw in Ouagadougou in September maintained Egypt’s five-point advantage.
Salah was by far their most important contributor — top scorer (9 goals) and top assister (3), directly involved in 60% of Egypt’s qualifying goals.
The Coach: Hossam Hassan
One of the most legendary figures in Egyptian football history, Hossam Hassan holds the record for the most international goals (69) and is second only to Ahmed Hassan in appearances. He won the CAF Champions League in 2002 with Zamalek and represented Egypt at the 1990 World Cup. His managerial career has been primarily domestic, with a brief stint managing Jordan’s national team in 2013-14.
He is now in the position of knowing that Salah needs just three more goals to surpass him as Egypt’s all-time top scorer.
How They Play
Hassan has shown tactical flexibility — 4-3-3 was the base in qualifying (with Salah and Omar Marmoush of Manchester City flanking the front line), but he shifted to a 5-3-2 during AFCON, using man-marking, deep blocks, and counter-attacking pace. In more recent friendlies, he has reverted to a back four against Saudi Arabia and Spain. The system is likely to be determined by the opponent rather than a fixed identity.
Key Player: Mohamed Salah
Salah requires no introduction. Now 33, his Liverpool career ended with a difficult final season — but he remains Egypt’s undisputed talisman and the player around whom the entire national team’s ambitions revolve. He could become Egypt’s all-time leading scorer during this tournament, a milestone that would add further emotional significance to his final World Cup.
If Salah can return to something approaching his best after his Liverpool disappointments, Egypt are a genuinely dangerous side. If he cannot, their prospects diminish considerably. The drop-off from his 49 international goals to second-place Gonzalo Plata is extreme — it reflects both his extraordinary quality and Egypt’s dependence on him.
A notable squad addition is 18-year-old Hamza Abdelkarim, who left Al Ahly for Barcelona in January after just one appearance and has spent time with the B team. He made his national team debut in Egypt’s May friendly.
Iran: Experience Without Progress
Iran are making their seventh World Cup appearance — their fourth in a row — but have never progressed beyond the group stage. Only Scotland (8 appearances) have participated in more finals without reaching the knockout rounds.
Their statistical record at the tournament is revealing: among teams to have played 15 or more World Cup matches, Iran have scored the fewest goals per game (0.72). Only Bulgaria have a lower win rate among those sides — Bulgaria at 11.5%, Iran at 16.7%.
Qualification
Iran qualified with relative comfort. Their only defeat across 16 matches in two rounds of Asian qualifying came against Qatar — after they had already secured progression. A few unconvincing performances along the way, but the destination was never seriously in doubt.
Historical Context
Their best recent performance came in 2018, when they dramatically beat Morocco and drew with Portugal, only for a narrow defeat to Spain to deny them the knockout rounds. In 2022, comfortable defeats to England and the USA bookended a late, dramatic win over a ten-man Wales side — not the most compelling evidence of progress.
The Coach: Amir Ghalenoei
This is Iran’s first World Cup since 2006 without Carlos Queiroz in the dugout. Ghalenoei has been in charge since the 2022 World Cup and, on paper, his record is solid — qualification was achieved straightforwardly and his win percentage is in the 70s. But there is considerable dissatisfaction with his tactical conservatism and his preference for players in their thirties — most notably Alireza Jahanbakhsh and former Brentford midfielder Saman Ghoddos — over younger alternatives.
How They Play
Iran under Ghalenoei largely maintain the framework established by Queiroz: two banks of four with minimal ambition in possession and reliance on Mehdi Taremi as the primary attacking focal point. The approach has proved results-oriented in qualification but has not demonstrated the capacity for major tournament breakthroughs.
Taremi — now at Greek champions Olympiacos after a season with Inter Milan — remains their most potent threat. The form and availability of Jahanbakhsh, who had been without a club, is a significant concern: surely a player without club football for over a year cannot be selected, regardless of his talent.
The most notable squad omission is Sardar Azmoun — ostensibly dropped after posting a picture meeting the Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, interpreted as disloyalty given Iran-UAE tensions, though Azmoun (31, 57 international goals) had an injury-affected season. His exclusion appears political rather than sporting.
The most intriguing inclusion is Dennis Eckert, a German-born forward who switched allegiance to Iran so recently that he had not yet made his international debut when the squad was named.
The Wider Context
Iran carry significant off-field complexity into this tournament. Questions remain about how many Iranian fans will be permitted entry to the United States, given geopolitical tensions. At the 2022 World Cup, Iran’s players openly protested against the repression of demonstrations back home — a moment of enormous courage that overshadowed their performances on the pitch. Whether similar pressures will affect the team’s focus in 2026 is an open question that no football analyst can fully answer.
New Zealand: The All Whites’ Modest Ambitions
New Zealand are making their third World Cup appearance — and arriving in a group that, at least on paper, offers a realistic path to points even if the knockout stage remains a significant stretch.
The supercomputer gives them a 47.8% chance of progressing — comfortably better than a coin flip, though still an outsider’s odds in a group containing Belgium and Egypt.
They are the smallest and least experienced squad in the group, but under Darren Bazeley they have developed a coherent identity and achieved their qualification with surprising ease through the OFC pathway.
Qualification
Since Australia joined the AFC ahead of the 2010 World Cup, New Zealand have been the dominant force in Oceanian qualifying. They received a bye into the second stage, then won all three group matches with 19 goals scored and one conceded (against Tahiti, Vanuatu, and Samoa). A 7-0 demolition of Fiji and then a 3-0 defeat of New Caledonia sealed their place at a canter.
Historical Context
New Zealand’s World Cup history is brief but includes moments of genuine pride. Their 1982 debut featured their first World Cup goals in a 5-2 defeat by Scotland, before further losses to the Soviet Union and Brazil. Their 2010 campaign was remarkable — unbeaten throughout, drawing 1-1 with Italy and drawing 0-0 with Paraguay, meaning they were the only unbeaten team from a tournament eventually won by a Spain side that had lost its opening game. Winston Reid’s stoppage-time equaliser against Slovakia remains the most celebrated moment in New Zealand football history.
The Coach: Darren Bazeley
Bazeley — an Englishman best known to fans of Watford, for whom he made almost 300 appearances — has a long association with New Zealand football. He joined the national setup as under-17 assistant in 2009 and has remained connected to it since, with brief interruptions for stints with Colorado Rapids (MLS) and Newcastle Jets (A-League). He was appointed head coach in July 2023, simultaneously managing the under-23 side that appeared at the 2024 Paris Olympics (eliminated in the group stage behind the USA and hosts France).
He won the 2024 OFC Nations Cup with the senior side and is the third person to manage New Zealand at a World Cup, after John Adshead (1982) and Ricki Herbert (2010).
How They Play
Despite New Zealand’s limited resources and FIFA ranking of 85, Bazeley has constructed a team that genuinely tries to play possession football — using a 4-2-3-1 formation and looking to build rather than simply playing long balls to their clear focal point, Chris Wood. Their October friendlies — a 1-0 loss in Poland and a 1-1 draw in Norway (against a side without Erling Haaland) — showed this approach can function competitively.
The limitation is finishing quality in the absence of Wood. Getting the best from players around him has been one of Bazeley’s key developmental challenges.
Key Player: Chris Wood
Wood (Nottingham Forest, 33) is the only plausible answer. New Zealand’s all-time leading scorer with 45 goals and joint-highest appearance maker (88 caps), he is the captain and the player around whom the entire tactical structure is built. A tall, rangy, dangerous finisher with extensive Premier League experience (West Brom, Leicester, Burnley, Newcastle, Forest), he has scored at European level this season and brings real quality to what would otherwise be a very modest attacking unit.
Wood has never scored at a World Cup. That ambition — to get his first goals on the biggest stage — will drive him throughout the tournament.
Squad Notes
New Zealand confirmed their 26-man squad almost three weeks before the deadline — one of the first nations to do so — reflecting the tight-knit nature of a group with limited squad depth and significant rotation. 10 of the 26 players are from the A-League, with eight of those playing for either Auckland FC or Wellington Phoenix.
The squad has few surprises — Bazeley is working with the players he knows best, many of whom have developed under him across various age groups.
Predictions
| Predicted Standing | Team | Simulation Probability |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Belgium | 89.6% to progress |
| 2nd | Egypt | 68.2% to progress; 20.3% to top group |
| 3rd | Iran | Likely third |
| 4th | New Zealand | 47.8% to progress (outsider) |
Belgium should progress comfortably — their squad quality, despite the physical limitations of their senior players, is significantly superior to Iran and New Zealand, and at least matches Egypt. The question is not whether they advance but how far they go.
Egypt are the most interesting proposition. A fit, motivated Salah — playing for his country’s World Cup history, approaching the all-time scoring record, and with something to prove after a difficult club season — is a genuine threat to any opponent. Their defensive organisation has improved and their tactical flexibility under Hassan adds unpredictability.
Iran are the safer selection for third, with sufficient quality and defensive organisation to trouble New Zealand. New Zealand will be competitive and will likely take something from at least one group match, but progression remains their most ambitious realistic target.
Read More: World Cup 2026: Group F Predictions and Preview
