{"id":883321,"date":"2026-06-21T19:40:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/883321\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T19:40:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:40:25","slug":"belgium-v-iran-live-iran-question-world-cup-disruption-before-group-g-clash-in-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/883321\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium v Iran LIVE: Iran question World Cup disruption before Group G clash in LA"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Protests ahead of Iran’s World Cup games <\/p>\n

Ahead of the 2-2 draw with New Zealand, 300 to 500 protesters \u2060gathered outside the stadium waving anti-Iranian government signs and flags, protesting against the country\u2019s regime and its crackdown on pro-democracy protestors while inside loud jeers were heard from some sections of the crowd during the Iranian national anthem.<\/p>\n

Iran are back at the So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles this evening for their clash with Belgium. They will then head to Seattle for their final match against Egypt. <\/p>\n

\"\"(AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 19:35<\/p>\n

<\/a>Team news<\/p>\n

Belgium manager Rudi Garcia makes four changes to the side which drew with Egypt, with Castagne, Onana, De Ketelaere and the ill Doku replaced by De Cupyer, Raskin, Lukaku – who is fit to start despite concerns – and Saelemaekerrs.<\/p>\n

Flo Clifford21 June 2026 19:33<\/p>\n

<\/a>Belgium continuing to manage Romelu Lukaku’s minutes at World Cup <\/p>\n

Despite forcing the equaliser within seconds of coming onto the pitch during Belgium\u2019s opening draw with Egypt, Romelu Lukaku has not started a match all season and is continuing to build up his fitness at the World Cup. <\/p>\n

The Napoli striker only made eight appearances for the Italian side last season, all from the bench, and managed 25 minutes against Egypt. <\/p>\n

“We do need to be careful because we could be tempted to play him more than he could safely play, and Belgium want him for the entire tournament, manager Rudi Garcia said. <\/p>\n

However, he has been selected in the starting XI tonight. <\/p>\n

\"\"(Reuters)<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 19:27<\/p>\n

<\/a>Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei: ‘The conditions have become \u200ceven harder’<\/p>\n

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei: \u201cWe \u2060only managed to train half the time we usually spend on training. We wanted to have optimal physical and technical preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the Belgium team,\u201d he added. \u201cThey arrived yesterday \u200cnoon. They’ve managed to have \u200bproper training.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said they had had 24 hours to prepare before their 2-2 draw with New Zealand on the first matchday. \u201cThe conditions have become \u200ceven harder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ghalenoei, however, praised Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the governing body for attempting to help. \u201cI know for sure that Fifa and Mr Infantino are doing the utmost to ease these challenges that we are facing. I think FIFA did its utmost to minimise the problems we have faced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"(Reuters)<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 19:20<\/p>\n

<\/a>Belgium v Iran: Group G standings<\/p>\n

All four teams drew their opening games in Group G, which means no one can progress or be eliminated today. Egypt play New Zealand later this evening. <\/p>\n

\"\"(Independent )<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 19:10<\/p>\n

<\/a>Iran line-up <\/p>\n

Iran XI:<\/strong> Beiranvand, Hardani, Hajisafi, Kanani, Nemati, Rezaeian, Ezatolahi, Mohebbi, Ghoddos, Taremi<\/p>\n

Substitutes:<\/strong> Niazmand, Hosseini, Mohammadi, Yousefi, Iri, Jahanbaksh, Cheshmi, Torabi, Ghorbani, Razaghinia, Ghayedi, Alipour, Hosseinzadeh, Moghanloo, Dargahi<\/p>\n

Flo Clifford21 June 2026 18:52<\/p>\n

<\/a>Belgium line-up<\/p>\n

Belgium XI:<\/strong> Courtois, Mechele, De Cuyper, Meunier, Ngoy, De Bruyne, Tielemans, Saelemaekers, Raskin, Lukaku, Trossard<\/p>\n

Substitutes:<\/strong> Lammens, Penders, Theate, Winter, Seys, Castagne, Witzel, Moreira, Vanaken, Onana, Lukebakio, De Ketelaere, Fernandez-Pardo <\/p>\n

Flo Clifford21 June 2026 18:50<\/p>\n

<\/a>TV presenter apologises after criticising Jeremy Doku\u2019s plan to leave World Cup for birth of first child<\/p>\n

A French TV presenter has apologised after criticising Belgium winger Jeremy Doku\u2019s decision to leave the World Cup to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.<\/p>\n

Doku, who will Belgium\u2019s match against Iran on Sunday due to a chest infection, revealed that his wife Shireen is due during the second week of July – which will coincide with the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

The Manchester City forward, 24, told Reuters that he plans to leave the World Cup and return home even if Belgium are still in the tournament. Belgian media reported that plans are being put in place so Doku can travel home via private jet.<\/p>\n

However, Doku\u2019s comments were criticised by Channel L’Equipe presenter France Pierron, who said the father is \u201ccompletely useless\u201d during their child\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 18:40<\/p>\n

<\/a>The surreal possibility hanging over Iran\u2019s perilous World Cup campaign<\/p>\n

The hard truth is worth repeating: it is the first time in the World Cup\u2019s 96-year history that a competing nation is at war with a host. Kieran Jackson explains:<\/p>\n

\"\"The surreal possibility hanging over Iran\u2019s perilous World Cup campaign<\/a><\/p>\n

The hard truth is worth repeating: it is the first time in the World Cup\u2019s 96-year history that a competing nation is at war with a host. Protests are planned at Iran\u2019s opening game in Los Angeles against New Zealand on Monday and, as Kieran Jackson explains, the contest could even be halted<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 18:25<\/p>\n

<\/a>Last time out: Resilient Iran defy obstacles to salvage draw against New Zealand<\/p>\n

Iran drew their World Cup 2026 opener with New Zealand but emphatically won the support of the Iranian community inside SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, having overcome unprecedented obstacles just to play at these finals.<\/p>\n

The Asian team hit back twice through Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi to force a 2-2 draw, with Eli Just grabbing a brace for the All Whites.<\/p>\n

A World Cup had never kicked off with a host at war with a participant before. Iran have faced the threat of being unable to take their place at the tournament ever since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign back in February, been forced to change training venue from the US to Mexico to combat visa issues, and still had 11 non-playing officials blocked from entering the States for the team\u2019s matches.<\/p>\n

Jamie Braidwood21 June 2026 18:10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protests ahead of Iran’s World Cup games Ahead of the 2-2 draw with New Zealand, 300 to 500…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":883322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[10],"tags":[4538,1005,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-883321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-demonstration","tag-horizontal","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116789801679872348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}