Welcome to The Athletic’s 2026 World Cup tactical group guides, walking you through the key battles on the pitch, the players to look out for, and the fun facts to impress your friends ahead of the tournament.In this article, we will look at Group G, consisting of Belgium, Egypt, Iran and New Zealand.Belgium are the favourites to top the group based on their pedigree and individual quality, but exited in the group stage in Qatar four years ago and the Round of 16 at Euro 2024. Rudi Garcia can call on some exciting young talent but the older, experienced core of Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and others will bear the bulk of the responsibilities.Egypt’s last two World Cup appearances — in 1990 and 2018 — ended in group-stage exits. But Hossam Hassan’s side, led by Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, will fancy their chances of getting past that hurdle this time around.Iran, ranked 21st in FIFA’s rankings (seven above Egypt and just 12 behind Belgium), have exited in the group stage in each of their six World Cup appearances since 1978.New Zealand have similarly exited at the first hurdle in 1982 and 2010 and are the lowest ranked team in the group. But they have recorded impressive friendly results against Chile (4-1 win), Ivory Coast (1-0 win) and Norway (1-1) in the past year, which should boost confidence.Will Belgium ease past the group stage? Can two of the other three teams will re-write their history in the competition by getting into the knockout stages? Could set pieces be a dominant theme?Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah should renew their rivalry in Group G (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)The gamesMatchday one