COTL
Sure thing Belgium
FOR a period of time in the 2010s, Belgium threatened to be an unstoppable force in world football - but only threatened. Far too good to be dark horses, but not quite good enough to realise their potential, they were frustrating to watch as they perennially teetered on the brink of greatness. So it was a surprise that, after reaching the quarter-finals in Brazil 2014 and finishing third in Russia 2018 (and beating Brazil in the quarters), they failed to make it out of the groups at Qatar 2022, and not from a ‘group of death’ either.
Many of the old guard are still around – Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel, Kevin De Bruyne – but the presence of young bucks like Jeremy Doku, Amadou Onana, and Charles De Ketelaere might be enough to breathe a bit of life back into the Red Devils. Barring a spectacular collapse, they should be good for the quarterfinals once again, but after that… who knows?
Key man Kevin de Bruyne (right)
Safe bet Egypt
EGYPT and Iran are probably somewhat interchangeable here for the safe bet / shoogly leg but Mo Salah’s nation just pip it on recent results, which included a respectable goalless draw away to Spain. The Pharaohs are yet to win a game at a World Cup across four appearances but they breezed through qualification, scoring 20 and conceding just two and you’d fancy them to deal comfortably enough with New Zealand and Iran and advance to the knockout stages. Salah may be the poster boy but Omar Marmoush and Trezeguet prove that they’re more than a one-man team in attack.
Key man Mo Salah
Shoogly peg Iran
THERE was a time when Iran’s participation in the World Cup was in doubt due to the country’s conflict with Israel and the USA but they are due to compete and will be based in Mexico.
Iran are actually a good 14 places higher than Egypt in the FIFA rankings but their inconsistency could be their Achilles heel - think beating Costa Rica 5-0 in a friendly but failing to beat Uzbekistan in four attempts and losing to Qatar. Sardar Azmoun, the country’s third-highest goalscorer, has been left out of the squad amid reports of a ‘perceived act of disloyalty to the country’s government’ so nonfootballing events are still having an influence on the pitch but regardless, Iran look to have their work cut out in making the knockout stages.
Key man Mehdi Taremi
Heading home New Zealand THE All-whites were prolific during qualifying, putting eight past both Vanuatu and Samoa and easing to a 3-0 victory over Tahiti. In the third round, they hit Fiji for seven and beat New Caledonia in the final. But they’ve only won once since June 2025; a 4-1 victory over Chile in the FIFA Series in March when the visitors played with 10 men for over an hour. Getting a result against Iran isn’t out of the question, but they tend to struggle against higher-tier nations. They haven’t got beyond the group stages in their previous two attempts, losing to Scotland, Brazil, and the Soviet Union in
Spain 1982 and drawing all three games in South Africa 2010 against Slovakia, Italy, and Paraguay. Stranger things have happened but it would appear to be a tall order for New Zealand to better previous World Cup appearances.
Key man Chris Wood
SPFL interest RANGERS midfielder Nico Raskin is in the Belgium squad and may well feature. Motherwell fans will be keeping an eye on
New Zealand and Elijah Just (and potentially Callan Elliot, born in Dumfries and a former Fir Park squad player) while Dundee United fans could get a glimpse of new winger Jesse Randall, who could well start for New Zealand. Former
Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper Jonathan Gould is also on the Allwhites coaching staff.