Belgium topped Group G with a 5-1 win over New Zealand at the World Cup on Friday, overtaking Egypt for a spot as they played to a 1-1 draw with Iran in a simultaneous kickoff.
Leandro Trossard scored a brace for Belgium while star Kevin de Bruyne added a third by the 66th minute, the European side set for a commanding win – and their first of the tournament after consecutive draws against Egypt and Iran. Elijah Just pulled one back for New Zealand in the 84th minute but subsequent goals from Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Saelemaekers ensured Rudi Garcia’s side would not be too troubled en route to the knockouts. The scoreline reflected a performance in which the Belgians outshot their opponents 35 to six and racked up 3.65 expected goals to New Zealand’s 0.25.
Belgium’s goal difference ultimately saw them overtake Egypt, who entered Friday’s games in first place with four points, while the European side had only two. Egypt picked up an additional point with a draw against Iran, though Iran played well – they may have been outshot 15 to 12 but Iran’s chances were of a higher quality, ultimately tallying 1.83 expected goals to Egypt’s 0.81. Mohamed Salah, Egypt’s top all-time World Cup goalscorer, only took one shot on a day Iran’s defense limited their attacking efforts.
Belgium and Egypt both advance as the group winners and runners-up, respectively, while Iran will have to wait until the conclusion of Saturday’s games to see if their three points from three draws will be enough to see them through the knockout stages. Belgium are likely to face South Korea, the third-place team from Group A on Wednesday at Seattle’s Lumen Field, while Egypt will take on Group D runners-up Australia on July 3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The results mean Belgium are now on a collision course to face the U.S. men’s national team in the round of 16, should both teams advance past their round of 32 fixtures. The USMNT are slated to face Bosnia and Herzegovina, a World Cup newcomer, on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco suburbs.
If Belgium do face the USMNT, the game would be a rematch of March’s friendly between the two sides. The USMNT scored first but went on to lose 5-2 after being tied at 1-1 at halftime, the game unraveling quickly as Belgium scored three goals in 15 minutes. Weston McKennie and Patrick Agyemang, the latter of whom picked up a long-term Achilles injury before the World Cup, scored that day for a U.S. team that saw some rotation. Only six players that have started a World Cup game so far started against Belgium in the friendly in March, the possibility likely that a very different version of the USMNT would play that day if both teams advanced.
It would also mark the first World Cup meeting between the teams since a round of 16 matchup in 2014, when Belgium beat the USMNT 2-1 at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil, in extra time. The teams were tied 0-0 after 90 minutes but the floodgates opened after the fact, De Bruyne and Lukaku scoring for the Belgians before the oft-forgotten Julian Green scored his only World Cup goal. In that game, Tim Howard set the World Cup single-game saves record with 16. The two nations also met at the 1930 World Cup, the first ever edition, with the U.S. winning 3-0.
