World Cup 2026 Guide

Group G fixtures

All kick-off times in SAST. Five matches in the USA (Seattle, Los Angeles) and two in Canada (Vancouver).

Date	Kick-off (SAST)	Match	Venue
Mon 15 Jun 2026	21:00	Belgium vs Egypt · group opener	Lumen Field, Seattle
Tue 16 Jun 2026	03:00	Iran vs New Zealand	SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles
Sun 21 Jun 2026	21:00	Belgium vs Iran	SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles
Mon 22 Jun 2026	03:00	New Zealand vs Egypt	BC Place, Vancouver
Sat 27 Jun 2026	05:00	Egypt vs Iran	Lumen Field, Seattle
Sat 27 Jun 2026	05:00	New Zealand vs Belgium	BC Place, Vancouver

Register & bet on Group G See match predictions

How Group G qualification works The top two sides progress to the Round of 32. The eight best third-placed sides across the 12 groups also qualify. Tie-breakers, in order: head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, then head-to-head goals scored.

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Group G teams

Quick profile, key man and betting angle for each side. Squads can be opened for the full 26-man list.

European seed

Belgium

Manager: Rudi Garcia · FIFA rank: 9 · Route: UEFA Group J winners · Last World Cup: 2022 · Best result: Third place (2018)

Belgium are still in their golden-generation handover. De Bruyne (now at Napoli) and Lukaku (also at Napoli) anchor the experienced core; Doku, De Ketelaere and Trossard provide the modern attacking width; Onana and Tielemans bring midfield athleticism. Garcia’s first major tournament with the squad — the question is whether Belgium can rediscover the structural sharpness that made them the 2018 semi-finalists.

Key man: Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli) — still the most influential creator in the squad.
Betting angle: Belgium short for group winner. Outright winner price is in the 16-20/1 range; Doku anytime goalscorer markets are heavily backed.

Belgium full squad

GK: Thibaut Courtois, Senne Lammens, Mike Penders.
DF: Timothy Castagne, Zeno Debast, Maxim De Cuyper, Koni De Winter, Brandon Mechele, Thomas Meunier, Nathan Ngoy, Joaquin Seys, Arthur Theate.
MF: Kevin De Bruyne, Amadou Onana, Nicolas Raskin, Youri Tielemans, Hans Vanaken, Axel Witsel.
FW: Charles De Ketelaere, Jeremy Doku, Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Romelu Lukaku, Dodi Lukebakio, Diego Moreira, Alexis Saelemaekers, Leandro Trossard.

African qualifier

Egypt

Manager: Hossam Hassan · FIFA rank: 28 · Route: CAF Group A winners · Last World Cup: 2018 · Best result: Group stage (1990, 2018)

Egypt’s first World Cup in eight years, and the strongest squad they’ve ever taken to one. Mo Salah at Liverpool is still the centrepiece; Omar Marmoush at Manchester City is the rising co-star; Trezeguet adds experience. Hossam Hassan’s side scored heavily in qualifying and arrive with real attacking depth. The defensive question marks remain.

Key man: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) — still Egypt’s talisman, still their best chance.
Betting angle: Egypt to qualify is short. Salah anytime goalscorer in every group match is one of the most popular player picks at the tournament.

Egypt full squad

GK: Mohamed El Shenawy, Mostafa Shobeir, El Mahdi Soliman, Mohamed Alaa.
DF: Mohamed Hany, Tarek Alaa, Hamdy Fathy, Rami Rabia, Yasser Ibrahim, Hossam Abdelmaguid, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Ahmed Fatouh, Karim Hafez.
MF: Marwan Ateya, Mohanad Lasheen, Nabil Emad, Mahmoud Saber, Ahmed Zizo, Emam Ashour, Mostafa Ziko, Mahmoud Trezeguet, Ibrahim Adel, Haissem Hassan.
FW: Omar Marmoush, Mohamed Salah, Aqtay Abdallah, Hamza Abdelkarim.

Asian qualifier

Iran

Manager: Amir Ghalenoei · FIFA rank: 21 · Route: AFC Group A winners · Last World Cup: 2022 · Best result: Group stage (six previous appearances)

Iran arrive at their seventh World Cup still chasing a first knockout-round appearance. Ghalenoei’s side is built on tactical discipline and defensive shape — familiar Iran traits. Taremi at Olympiakos is the attacking focal point; Jahanbakhsh and Hosseinzadeh provide the wide threats. Hard to break down; rarely score more than once a match.

Key man: Mehdi Taremi (Olympiakos) — the focal point and most-bet goalscorer name.
Betting angle: Under 2.5 goals in every Iran match is sensible. Iran to qualify (third-place route) is the value angle for outsider backers.

Iran full squad

GK: Alireza Beiranvand, Seyed Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand.
DF: Danial Eiri, Ehsan Hajsafi, Saleh Hardani, Hossein Kanaani, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Milad Mohammadi, Ali Nemati, Ramin Rezaeian.
MF: Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Mehdi Ghaedi, Saman Ghoddos, Mohammad Ghorbani, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebi, Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, Mehdi Torabi, Aria Yousefi.
FW: Ali Alipour, Dennis Dargahi, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Taremi, Shahriar Moghanlou.

OFC champions

New Zealand

Manager: Darren Bazeley · FIFA rank: 85 · Route: OFC winners · Last World Cup: 2010 · Best result: Group stage (1982, 2010)

New Zealand’s first World Cup in 16 years. Famously, they were the only unbeaten team at the 2010 tournament (three draws). The 2026 squad is built around Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest — the most prolific goalscorer in All Whites history — with Tyler Bindon, Marko Stamenic and Liberato Cacace providing the European-tested experience. Bazeley’s side will defend deep and look to scrap.

Key man: Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) — the goalscorer who carries the side.
Betting angle: Three-game tournament realistically. Wood anytime goalscorer in every group match is the popular player pick.

New Zealand full squad

GK: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud.
DF: Tim Payne, Francis De Vries, Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Nando Pijnaker, Finn Surman, Callan Elliot, Tommy Smith.
MF: Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Marko Stamenic, Sarpreet Singh, Alex Rufer, Ryan Thomas.
FW: Chris Wood, Eli Just, Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Waine, Ben Old, Callum McCowatt, Jesse Randall, Lachlan Bayliss.

Group G predictions and angles

Match-by-match read from the 10bet tips desk. Live prices on every Group G fixture.

Headline opener

Belgium vs Egypt

Prediction: Belgium 2-1 Egypt. Salah scores; Belgium’s depth wins it late.
Tip: Both teams to score & Over 2.5 goals.

See full preview15 June · 21:00 SAST

Iran vs New Zealand

Prediction: Iran 1-0 New Zealand. Defensive game; Iran’s pace on the break enough for a single goal.
Tip: Iran to win & Under 2.5 goals.

See full preview16 June · 03:00 SAST

Belgium vs Iran

Prediction: Belgium 1-0 Iran. Iran sit deep; Belgium struggle to break the block but a moment from De Bruyne tells.
Tip: Under 2.5 goals.

See full preview21 June · 21:00 SAST

New Zealand vs Egypt

Prediction: Egypt 2-0 New Zealand. Salah and Marmoush too sharp for a deep New Zealand block.
Tip: Egypt to win & Salah anytime goalscorer.

See full preview22 June · 03:00 SAST

Qualification decider

Egypt vs Iran

Prediction: Egypt 1-0 Iran. Both fighting for second; one moment of Salah quality is decisive.
Tip: Egypt to win & Under 2.5 goals.

See full preview27 June · 05:00 SAST

New Zealand vs Belgium

Prediction: Belgium 3-0 New Zealand. Belgium qualified by this point and can rotate; the bench is still elite.
Tip: Belgium to win to nil.

See full preview27 June · 05:00 SAST

What players look for in Group G

Group winner angle

Belgium are short and rightly so. Egypt’s qualification is short too. The market interest is whether Iran or Egypt finish second.

Qualification value

Egypt to qualify (any position) is one of the safest African qualification plays. Iran via the third-place route is the bigger-priced angle.

Player markets

Salah anytime goalscorer is the most-bet single market in the group. Doku, Lukaku and Marmoush are heavily backed in the same market. Wood for New Zealand is the long-priced option.

Useful routes from Group G

World Cup odds

Move from Group G into the full tournament odds picture.

See World Cup oddsTournament view

Match predictions

Day-by-day previews for every fixture, including all six Group G games.

Open predictionsMatch-by-match

Top scorer

Mohamed Salah and Marmoush both feature in the Golden Boot conversation — check the player market.

See top scorer oddsGolden Boot

Register & bet See curated tips