{"id":762583,"date":"2026-06-26T14:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/762583\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:21:12","slug":"egypt-vs-iran-at-world-cup-2026-salah-prediction-lineups-how-to-watch-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/762583\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt vs Iran at World Cup 2026 \u2013 Salah, prediction, lineups, how to watch | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 World Cup will have 13 different kickoff times. You can use the\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport widget<\/a>\u00a0to find out exactly when your team is playing in your local time.<\/p>\n

Who: Egypt vs Iran
What:\u00a0FIFA World Cup 2026<\/a> Group G match
Where: Seattle Stadium<\/a>, Seattle
When: Friday, 8pm local time (03:00 GMT on Saturday)
How to follow:\u00a0We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport<\/a> from 23:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Mohamed Salah\u2019s Egypt will look to confirm their spot in the World Cup<\/a> knockouts for the first time in 92 years when the North African giants face Iran, whose tournament has been shaped more by politics than play, in Seattle on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Buoyed by their 3-1 win over New Zealand \u2013 Egypt\u2019s first at a World Cup<\/a> \u2013 the record seven-time African champions can reach the round of 32<\/a> should they beat Iran, while a draw may also be enough, depending on other results.<\/p>\n

Iran \u2013 who recorded back-to-back draws despite dealing with an unprecedented World Cup geopolitical nexus whereby the tournament co-host, the United States, went to war against their nation, which later led to group match travel restrictions<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 are also well within reach of advancing to the knockouts for the first time.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera tells you everything you need to know about Egypt vs Iran:<\/p>\n

Salah, Egypt out to make history<\/p>\n

Despite their dominance on the continental level, Egypt have never quite stepped up at the world stage. But come Friday, things could change.<\/p>\n

The Pharaohs are on the brink of reaching the World Cup knockouts for the first time, 92 years on from their tournament debut in 1934. In the words of their beloved forward, Mohamed Salah, the qualification would be \u201cthe greatest achievement\u201d in the Arab nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

For millions of Egyptians, the match with Iran offers more than one reason to rejoice, with Salah also closing in on a personal record. Nicknamed the \u201cEgyptian King\u201d, Salah is only one goal short of becoming Egypt\u2019s joint top scorer, matching the tally of 69 by Hossam Hassan.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, former striker Hassan, who played for Egypt between 1985 and 2006, is now the head coach of the World Cup team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not put everything on one star or two stars and just bet that they will bring it for us,\u201d Hassan said, trying to ease the pressure on his 34-year-old forward.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, he added that Salah\u2019s central position has given him more freedom, with the ex-Liverpool player netting one goal and two assists so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a new version of Mo Salah at the moment. He plays in a new position \u2013 he plays very freely in a very creative way,\u201d the coach explained.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerMohamed Salah can become Egypt\u2019s joint top scorer if he finds the net against Iran [Lee Smith\/Reuters]Iran wants to make nation proud<\/p>\n

Throughout World Cup 2026, Iran has grappled with severe travel restrictions imposed by their tournament matchday host, the United States, who alongside Israel, launched a war on the Middle East nation on February 28. The restrictions have affected the player\u2019s match preparations as well as post-match rest and recovery, according to the team.<\/p>\n

For their opening two games against New Zealand and Belgium, Iran were allowed to travel to their playing venues in the US only within 24 hours of their fixtures and had to return to their training base in Tijuana, Mexico, directly after each match.<\/p>\n

US authorities have eased travel restrictions<\/a> ahead of the match against Egypt, though Iran\u2019s football federation said on Wednesday that officials had \u201ccaused problems\u201d \u200cwhen the side travelled from their Mexican base for Friday\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n

Iran coach Amir\u00a0Ghalenoei told reporters on Thursday that the restrictions had \u201cphysically affected us\u201d in previous games, but that Iran are now \u201cfitter and also we are in a better position\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to be positive. We are not going to think about any other issues \u2026 we seek to bring joy to our people,\u201d Ghalenoei said, while also refusing to be drawn on the Pride \u2060celebrations surrounding the game.<\/p>\n

Iran are aiming to reach the World Cup knockouts in their eighth attempt.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerIran players train at the University of Washington before the match [Blake Dahlin\/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters]Egypt vs Iran predictions<\/p>\n

Opta\u2019s supercomputer has calculated a 44.1 percent probability of Egypt winning this fixture, while Iran is assessed a 24.6 percent chance of victory. There is a 31.3 percent probability of the game ending in a draw.<\/p>\n

Overall, Egypt are favourites to finish on top of Group G, with a whopping 62.51 percent probability, according to Opta.<\/p>\n

Egypt vs Iran: Kickoff time, TV channel
\nEgypt: beIN SPORTS MAX 5, beIN SPORTS MAX 1 (6am on Saturday, Egypt Standard Time)
\nIran: IRIB TV3, IRIB Varzesh, Persiana Sports, GEM TV (6:30am on Saturday, Iran Standard Time)
\nUnited Kingdom: BBC iPlayer, BBC Two, Red Button 1 (4am on Saturday, British Summer Time)
\nUSA: FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, Peacock, FS1 (10:30pm, Eastern Daylight Time)<\/p>\n

To check the TV listings for your country, head to FIFA\u2019s TV listing schedule\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerIran fans display pre-Iranian Revolution \u201cLion and Sun\u201d flags inside the stadium before the match [Daniel Cole\/Reuters]What\u2019s the scenario in Group G?<\/p>\n

Group G is wide open, with all four teams in the race for the knockouts.<\/p>\n

After two games, Egypt leads the group with four points, while Iran is second on two points, Belgium is third on the same tally, and New Zealand is last with a single point.<\/p>\n

The top two teams from each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed teams, will proceed to the round of 32.<\/p>\n

Can Egypt or Iran top Group G?<\/p>\n

Yes. Egypt will seal top spot if they defeat Iran, while a draw will also be enough if Belgium fail to beat New Zealand by a margin of three or more goals.<\/p>\n

Iran also has a chance of grabbing first place, which they can pull off if they beat Egypt and Belgium fail to defeat New Zealand. If Iran win the group, they could potentially face the USA in the round of 16.<\/p>\n

Form guide<\/p>\n

(Last five games, latest first)<\/p>\n

Egypt: W-D-L-W-D<\/p>\n

Iran: D-D-W-W-W<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s record is superior to Egypt in the last five games.<\/p>\n

Iran held Belgium to a goalless draw in their last match and drew with New Zealand in the World Cup opener. Before that, they beat Mali and The Gambia in pre-World Cup friendlies and thrashed Costa Rica in a March friendly.<\/p>\n

Egypt registered their first-ever World Cup win by beating New Zealand in the second group game, while they drew with Belgium in their tournament opener. They lost to Brazil and beat Russia in pre-World Cup friendlies and held Spain to a draw in a March friendly.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerEgypt\u2019s Mostafa Zico celebrates during their 3-1 win over New Zealand [Albert Gea\/Reuters]Egypt vs Iran: Team news<\/p>\n

Egypt duo Hamdi Fathy (hamstring) and Hossam Abdelmaguid (head) are doubtful with injuries.<\/p>\n

Iran has not reported any player injuries in the lead-up to the final matchday.<\/p>\n

Egypt predicted lineup<\/p>\n

(4-2-3-1): Shobeir (goalkeeper); Hany, Ibrahim, Rabia, El Fotouh; Ateya, Lasheen; Ziko, Salah, Ashour; Marmoush<\/p>\n

Iran predicted lineup<\/p>\n

(5-4-1): Beiranvand (goalkeeper); Rezaeian, Kanaani, Nemati, Khalilzadeh, Safi; Jahanbakhsh, Ghoddos, Ezatolahi, Mohebi; Taremi<\/p>\n

\"MohammadMohammad Mohebbi is one of just two Iran players to have scored at this tournament [Daniel Cole\/Reuters]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 World Cup will have 13 different kickoff times. You can use the\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport widget\u00a0to find…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,17706,527,5897,1259,44,561,457,82,772,1690,13010],"class_list":["post-762583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-egypt","tag-football","tag-iran","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-soccer","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}