Belgium take on Egypt in the first game of Group G at the 2026 World Cup, in one of the most anticipated fixtures in the first round of group stage games.
Belgium are ranked ninth in the world by FIFA and Egypt are 29th. This should, on paper, be quite an even game between two very decent sides.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the game…
Kick-off time in the UK
How to watch in the UK
Streaming on BBC iPlayer
Team news
Neither Belgium nor Egypt have any fitness concerns heading into the contest.
Predicted line-ups
Belgium XI (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Meunier, Ngoy, Theate, De Cuyper; Onana, Tielemans; Trossard, De Bruyne, Doku; Lukaku
Egypt XI (4-2-3-1): El Shenawy; Hany, Ibrahim, Rabia, Fatouh; Lashin, Fathy; Salah, Trezeguet, Zizo; Marmoush
Recent form
Belgium are in excellent form and have not lost since March 2025. They come into the game off the back of two dominant friendly wins pre-tournament, 2-0 against Croatia and 5-0 against Tunisia.
Egypt are also in good form and drew with European Champions Spain only three months ago. They did lose their last pre-tournament friendly 2-1 against Brazil.
What’s been said?
Belgium manager Rudi Garcia: “We are going to focus on our strengths, we want to be protagonists,” Garcia told reporters, adding: “We really need to go all-in tomorrow as if it is the final.”
“(The Egypt squad) is one of the best African squads of all time. But all teams have weaknesses. We will see tomorrow if we can exploit those weaknesses.”
Egypt boss Hossam Hassan: “As I said at the outset, the Belgian squad is an amazing one, a star-studded one. I respect the Belgian national team. It goes without saying that the entire world is very well aware of what they are capable of.”
Yet Egypt believes it can compete, having beaten Belgium three times in four exhibition matches. “We would like to have history repeat itself,” Hassan said.
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