Iran kept their hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stage alive for the first time in history after securing a hard-earned draw against 10-man Belgium in Los Angeles, thanks largely to the heroics of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
The 33-year-old shot-stopper delivered a series of outstanding saves throughout the match. He denied Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans with a sharp stop at the near post in the first half before producing one of the tournament’s standout saves shortly after the break, diving across goal to keep out Maxim de Cuyper’s low strike.
Belgium’s chances of claiming their first victory of the competition suffered a major setback in the 66th minute when defender Nathan Ngoy was shown a red card for bringing down Mehdi Taremi. At 23, Ngoy became the youngest player to be sent off at a World Cup since 2014.
The draw leaves Belgium, semi-finalists in 2018, facing the possibility of a group-stage exit for only the second time in nearly three decades after recording a second successive draw in Group G.
For Iran, who have only been permitted to arrive in the United States one day before each of their matches, the result marked a significant milestone, as they avoided defeat in their opening two World Cup fixtures for the first time.
Belgium controlled much of the first half and dominated possession, but struggled to convert their superiority into goals despite registering 11 attempts.
Tielemans came close to breaking the deadlock, while Iran briefly celebrated what they thought was the opening goal in the 25th minute when Taremi finished off a well-worked free-kick routine. However, after a lengthy VAR review, the strike was ruled out for offside.
