Iran frustrate 10-man Belgium in lacklustre stalemate

Group G

Belgium 0-0 Iran

Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand made a string of impressive saves to keep alive Iran’s hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time, as they earned a hard-fought point against 10-man Belgium.

The 33-year-old produced several fine saves in the first half – including one at the near post to deny Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans – before making one of the saves of the tournament five minutes after the restart, scrambling across the turf to deny Maxim de Cuyper’s low effort.

Belgium’s task of earning a first win of the World Cup became even harder 24 minutes from full-time when defender Nathan Ngoy was sent off for a professional foul on Mehdi Taremi, becoming the youngest player to receive a red card at a World Cup since 2014.

The result leaves the 2018 semi-finalists in danger of failing to progress from the group stage for only the second time in 28 years after drawing their second consecutive Group G match.

For Iran, meanwhile – who have only been allowed to fly into the United States a day before each match – the draw means it is the first time they have avoided defeat in their opening two matches of a World Cup.

In a first half lacking in quality, Belgium were left frustrated as they struggled to turn their dominance into goals, despite enjoying the majority of possession and registering 11 shots.

The Red Devils went close through Tielemans, but it was Iran who thought they had opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Taremi found the net.

The Olympiakos forward finished off a cleverly worked free-kick routine, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside following a lengthy VAR review.

It was the fourth consecutive World Cup match in which Belgium had failed to score before half-time.

They started the second half brightly and would have been ahead in the 58th minute had Beiranvand not produced an outstanding save to deny Brighton’s De Cuyper after a magnificent touch and cross from Kevin de Bruyne.

But Iran refused to be cowed into submission and called Thibaut Courtois into action on his record-breaking 17th World Cup appearance for Belgium, as he produced a strong save to deny Taremi his first goal of the tournament.

It was only the third time in 11 World Cup matches that Iran had avoided defeat against a European nation.