Group G exact finishing order - Belgium/Egypt @ 6/4
Team not to qualify from Group Stage - Iran @ 7/5
Top scorer in Group G - Romelu Lukaku @ SP
Belgium are hot favourites to top the standings in Group G of the 2026 World Cup, but Egypt and Iran look set for a close battle to take second in the group, while New Zealand cannot be written off in their first World Cup appearance since 2010.
With some close matches expected across the next few weeks, we have looked at each team to come up with three Group G bets.
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Belgium
Two draws against North Macedonia and one against Kazakhstan left Belgium needing a win in the final round of World Cup qualifying to guarantee their spot in the finals, but the Red Devils have been handed a relatively favourable group-stage draw and will be hoping their waning golden generation can go out with a bang.
After finishing third in the 2018 World Cup, Belgium failed to navigate the group stage in Qatar four years ago.
This is likely to be the last World Cup for national-team legends Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, though, so they will be expected to put on a show.
Egypt
Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush will lead the attack for an Egypt side taking part in just their third World Cup finals and the expanded tournament format offers them a great opportunity to reach the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
The Pharaohs scored 20 goals and conceded just two as they finished top of their qualifying group, and recent friendly meetings with Saudi Arabia, Spain and Russia have lifted morale after their disappointing semi-final exit at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
They have beaten Russia and Saudi Arabia without conceding, either side of a goalless draw with European champions Spain.
Iran
Taking part in their fourth successive World Cup, Iran are also hoping the expanded format helps them reach a maiden knockout-stage appearance, but qualifying did not go as smoothly as they might have hoped.
A draw with Uzbekistan and a loss to Qatar left them needing a final-round victory over North Korea, and they have since suffered disappointing results against Uzbekistan, Russia and Nigeria.
Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be the headline stars in the second-oldest squad at the 2026 World Cup, with those two having 202 caps and 77 goals between them, while Standard Liege forward Dennis Eckert is also named, despite still awaiting his FIFA Change of Association approval.
New Zealand
New Zealand scored 29 goals and conceded only once across five qualifying games to reach their first World Cup since 2010, but they head into Group G as rank outsiders and will need to defy expectations to do anything other than finish bottom of the standings.
Spearheaded by Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood, who scored nine of those 29 goals, the All Whites will also look towards PEC Zwolle’s Ryan Thomas, St Etienne’s Ben Old, and up-and-coming centre-back Tyler Bindon as they search for their first-ever points in the World Cup.
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Who will win World Cup Group G?
Belgium may not be the force they once were, but they should have few issues topping the charts in Group G.
They beat Croatia in their first warm-up tie and head into the World Cup unbeaten in over a year. They have the best squad in Group G by some distance and, while they may struggle against the better sides in the knockout stages, it would not be a surprise to see them win all three group ties comfortably.
Egypt are likely to be their toughest opponents and the Pharaohs look a good shout to take second place and qualify for the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
They reached the semi-finals of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations and possess some real star quality in the attacking areas, especially. Their midfield and defence are lacking, but they have a strong leader at the back in Mohamed Abdelmonem and recent clean sheets against Russia and Spain illustrate their organisational abilities.
Who will not qualify from Group G?
The expanded format of the 2026 World Cup offers knockout-stage positions to the best eight third-placed sides in the group stage, but Iran may fail to meet the mark with an ageing squad.
Jahanbakhsh and Taremi offer plenty of quality going forward, but they have a combined age of 65 and their talent may not be enough to overcome the relative lack of quality in the rest of the squad.
Team Melli’s entire defensive line is made up of domestic players and they struggle at times during qualifying.
Underdogs New Zealand may not be as bad as their betting odds suggest and, should they fail to win their opener against the All Whites, they would face an uphill battle to earn enough points to reach the knockout stages.
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Who will be the top goalscorer from World Cup Group G?
Only four players have scored more international goals than Romelu Lukaku and the Belgium legend looks set to add a few more to his tally this summer.
The Napoli striker has suffered his fair share of injury problems this season, but he scored from the bench against Croatia in Belgium’s first warm-up friendly and has found the net five times in his last five appearances for Rudi Garcia’s side.
With the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, and Leandro Trossard supporting him, he can continue to build his 90-goal tally for the Red Devils.
Egypt forward Salah is also a player worth considering to be top goalscorer in Group G. He scored 12 goals for Liverpool this season and also bagged four times during the Africa Cup of Nations.
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