Rudi Garcia, Head Coach of Belgium, interacts with the referees after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Belgium and Egypt at Seattle Stadium on June 15, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo: AFP)

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said on Saturday that since his side didn't follow Asian teams closely, they would focus more on themselves to play all out in the World Cup Group G match against Iran on Sunday.

In the first round matches of Group G, Belgium was held 1-1 by Egypt, and Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand.

"We've analyzed Iran less thoroughly because they're a team that's hard to track in friendly matches. However, we've seen that they had a strong qualifying campaign for the World Cup," Garcia told the pre-match press conference.

"We obviously watched them in their first match against New Zealand. They have players we know well and others we're less familiar with since we don't follow Asian teams very closely. But everyone obviously knows [Medhi] Taremi," he said.

"I'm French, so I'm familiar with midfielder [Saman] Ghoddos, who played for Amiens," he added.

"They're a team that runs a lot, defends well and is strong on set pieces. So, I'd say, we have to be at 100 percent of our ability tomorrow to beat this Iranian team. So, we're focusing much more on ourselves than on the opponent," he noted.

Belgium will face Iran for the first time in the World Cup. Former Belgium coach Marc Wilmots was briefly in charge of Team Iran in 2019, while three players in the current Iranian squad have ties to the Belgian Pro League.

Iran forward Dennis Dargahi has played in the Belgian top flight since 2022, first for Royale Union Saint-Gilloise prior to a move to Standard Liege in 2025. Meanwhile, Iran winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh is on the books of Dender, and defender Milad Mohammadi played for Gent from 2019 to 2021.