Key events
There’s still plenty of time to catch up with Max and the gang.
Feel free to keep me company by emailing your thoughts about today’s match, and anything related to the World Cup to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
Some possible topics:
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Adidas kits are way better than those of all other manufactures.
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Before the group stage I only fancied one of France, Spain, or Argentina to win the World Cup. I would now be comfortable adding Portugal to that list if Ronaldo wasn’t a guaranteed starter / or maintains the form he showed against Uzbekistan.
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This World Cup feels like a reckoning for South American football. Bolivia lost to Iraq in the pre-tournament playoff, Uruguay and Paraguay have been bad, Ecuador got lucky, Colombia are dull, and Brazil are reliant on an Italian conjurer. Argentina are the outlier and it is no surprise to see how much they dominated CONMEBOL qualification.
If my explanation of the permutations facing the Group G protagonists was insufficient, here’s a more fulsome description with tables.
This is going to be a multiscreen/multitab experience. I recommend opening up another window and inviting Sam Lewis to keep you informed on all things New Zealand v Belgium.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Egypt v Iran as Group G reaches its conclusion in Seattle. Kick-off at Lumen Field is 8pm local time (11pm EDT / 4am BST / 1pm AEST).
Welcome to what promises to be the most gloriously chaotic group stage denouement of this World Cup. Practically every combination of outcomes is possible as Egypt, Iran, Belgium and New Zealand battle to make it to the round of 32.
Egypt, on top of the group with four points, are the only team that can guarantee qualification with a draw.
Iran, second on two points, will qualify with a win, but may still sneak through with a draw if there is no winner in the Belgium v New Zealand clash.
New Zealand must win to progress. Belgium need a win to guarantee safe passage but may get away with a draw if other results fall their way.
With both matches kicking off simultaneously expect plenty of fluctuations in tempo and atmosphere as the four teams compute in real-time what they must do to stay alive.
Got it? Good. That’s NumberWang!
I’ll be back with a news roundup and team news shortly but in the meantime you can follow the closing stages of Group H where Cape Verde are destined for the round of 32 and Uruguay are on their way home.
