By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-06-14 09:09:50 | Updated at 2026-06-14 22:33:59
14 hours ago
Belgium are one of the form teams heading into the FIFA World Cup, but their opponents will be hungry for their first win on the biggest stage. Get ready for this Group G game with our Belgium vs Egypt prediction and preview.
Belgium vs Egypt: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer is predicting a tight match, with Belgium’s 37.2% win probability only marginally higher than Egypt’s 35.5%
- Belgium are making their 15th World Cup appearance; no European team has qualified for as many tournaments without ever winning the trophy.
- Only Honduras (9) have played more World Cup games than Egypt (7) without ever registering a victory.
Belgium will be hoping to continue their impressive recent form in their FIFA World Cup Group G opener against Egypt at Seattle Stadium on Monday.
Rudi Garcia’s side are unbeaten in 13 matches and won their previous outing against Tunisia 5-0, with five players on the scoresheet in Brussels.
It represented the continuation of an impressive turnaround from Garcia, who took over from Domenico Tedesco in January 2025 and, despite losing his first game at the helm, helped the Red Devils avoid relegation from League A in the UEFA Nations League.
The Frenchman then steered them to an unbeaten World Cup qualification campaign, where they topped their group and scored 29 goals – only Norway (37) netted more in the European section.
Manchester City winger Jérémy Doku was involved in almost a quarter of their qualifying goals, scoring five times and setting up another two, and provided two assists in the win over Tunisia.
Doku will be required to continue posing a goal threat with Romelu Lukaku branded “out of shape” by Garcia after spending much of the 2025-26 season sidelined due to recurring muscular injuries.
But Lukaku is Belgium’s all-time record goalscorer and he will be desperate to make his mark at the tournament, which will likely be a swansong for the remaining players from the national team’s golden generation.
Mohamed Salah may also go into the tournament feeling like he has a point to prove after a disappointing final campaign with Liverpool – his 14 league goal involvements was his worst return since he split the 2014-15 season across Chelsea and Fiorentina.
The Egypt attacker will be celebrating his 34th birthday on the day of this game, and he would no doubt love to mark it by leading his country to their first ever win at the World Cup.
The Pharaohs will need Salah to continue the impressive international form that saw him play a role in 60% of their goals in an unbeaten qualifying campaign (nine goals, three assists).
Salah played the second half as Egypt followed up a 1-0 win over Russia with a 2-1 defeat to Brazil in their final warm-up match.
Despite the latter result, they head into the tournament with no injury concerns. Still, head coach Hossam Hassan is likely to take a conservative approach that allows Omar Marmoush and Salah plenty of freedom in attack.
Doku has reportedly shaken off an injury sustained in training, while Thibaut Courtois will start in goal barring unforeseen issues and will make his 16th appearance at the World Cup, putting him level with Jan Ceulemans behind Enzo Scifo’s national record (17).
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Belgium vs Egypt Head-to-Head
This will be the first time Belgium and Egypt have met at a World Cup, but they have played each other four times previously in friendlies.
Egypt have three victories to Belgium’s one, with the Pharaohs triumphing 2-1 when they last met in November 2022 in Kuwait City. Goals from Mostafa Mohamed and Trezeguet were the difference on that occasion.
But Belgium have lost just one of their five World Cup matches against African opposition (W3 D1), which was a 2-0 defeat to Morocco in 2022. That result contributed to them failing to get out of their group, which is not something you would expect them to repeat in North America.
Belgium vs Egypt Prediction
The Opta supercomputer’s 25,000 pre-match simulations suggest this match well and truly could go either way.
Belgium narrowly came out on top in more of the projections, with their 37.2% narrowly shading Egypt’s 35.5%.
The chances of them sharing the spoils stand at 27.3%, so expect a tight affair that could well be decided by the finest of margins.
Belgium vs Egypt Squads
Belgium: Thibaut Courtois, Senne Lammens, Mike Penders, Zeno Debast, Arthur Theate, Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper, Thomas Meunier, Koni De Winter, Joaquin Seys, Timothy Castagne, Nathan Ngoy, Axel Witsel, Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans, Hans Vanaken, Nicolas Raskin, Amadou Onana, Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard, Jérémy Doku, Dodi Lukébakio, Charles De Ketelaere, Diego Moreira, Alexis Saelemaekers, Matias Fernandez-Pardo.
Egypt: Mohamed El Shenawy, El Mahdy Soliman, Mostafa Shobeir, Mohamed Alaa, Yasser Ibrahim, Mohamed Hany, Hossam Abdelmaguid, Ramy Rabia, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Ahmed Fatouh, Karim Hafez, Tarek Alaa, Emam Ashour, Mostafa Zico, Hamdi Fathy, Mohanad Lasheen, Nabil Emad Dunga, Marwan Attia, Mahmoud Saber, Trezeguet, Hamza Abdelkarim, Mohamed Salah, Haissem Hassan, Ibrahim Adel, Omar Marmoush, Zizo.
Belgium vs Egypt Predicted Lineups
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