Iran took advantage of seven saves from Alireza Beiranvand and a man advantage from a Belgian red card to earn a 0-0 draw in the second straight tie for both teams in their World Cup Group G match Sunday afternoon in Inglewood, California.
Beiranvand, 33, earned his second clean sheet in his seventh appearance in three World Cups. He also made six saves in Iran’s first 2-2 draw against New Zealand.
Iran took the lead in the 66th minute when Belgian Nathan Ngoy was red-carded for dragging an Iranian attacker after a poorly weighted back pass to the goalkeeper presented him with a scoring opportunity.
Although Iran played against 10 men for the final 30 minutes of the match, they still had only 32% of the possession, were outshot 7-3 and outpassed 608-269.
Even with a man down, Belgium had the best scoring opportunity of the rest of the match, with Beiranvand jumping to the ground to stop a shot from Maxim De Cuyper, who had four shots on goal, in the 86th minute.
The second straight draw leaves Belgium and Iran with two points from two matches in Group G. While both would advance with a win in the final round on June 26, it leaves the door open for either New Zealand or Egypt to move to the top of the table if they win Sunday night’s match in Vancouver.
Belgium will face New Zealand in Vancouver on the final day of Group G, while Iran will simultaneously face Egypt in Seattle.
Although Belgium controlled the game early, Iran had the most threatening opportunities. They seemed to take the lead in the 25th minute when Mehdi Taremi put a slow set-piece pass through the Belgian wall into the back of the net. The VAR annulled the goal both for offside and for invasion by Taremi.
An earlier opportunity required a diving save from Thibaut Courtois (three saves) in the 14th minute.
In the 53rd minute, Taremi shot from point-blank range inside the area, but deflected it right to Courtois, who caught the ball to keep the game scoreless.
Beiranvand made four saves in the first half, but none were as threatening as Iran’s early chances.
Beiranvand had to raise his level of play with his first save of the second half, extending a hand while face down on the ground to stop a 59th-minute De Cuyper shot from close range and secure the loose ball that followed.
