Iran used seven saves from Alireza Beiranvand and a man advantage from a Belgium red card to pull out a 0-0 draw in the second consecutive tie for both teams in World Cup Group G play Sunday afternoon in Inglewood, Calif.

Beiranvand, 33, earned his second clean sheet in his seventh appearance across three World Cups. He also had six saves in Iran’s opening 2-2 draw with New Zealand.

Iran went up a man in the 66th minute when Belgium’s Nathan Ngoy was sent off with a red card for dragging an Iranian attacker down after a poorly weighted back pass to the keeper presented a goal-scoring opportunity.

Even though Iran played against 10 men for the final 30 minutes of the match, they still had just 32% of the possession, were outshot 7-3 in shots on target and out-passed 608-269.

Even down a man, Belgium had the best scoring chance of the remainder of the game, with Beiranvand diving to the ground to stop a shot from Maxim De Cuyper, who had five shot attempts, in the 86th minute.

The second consecutive draw leaves both Belgium and Iran on two points through two Group G matches. While each would still advance with a win on the final matchday on June 26, it left the door open for Egypt, which moved atop the table with a 3-1 win over New Zealand on Sunday night in Vancouver.

Belgium face New Zealand in Vancouver on the final day of Group G play, while Iran simultaneously take on Egypt in Seattle.

While Belgium controlled play in the early going, Iran had the more threatening chances. They appeared to take the lead in the 25th minute when Mehdi Taremi put a slow-rolling set-piece pass through the Belgium wall into the back of the net. VAR overturned the goal for both an offside call and encroaching by Taremi.

An earlier chance required a diving stop by Thibaut Courtois (three saves) in the 14th minute.

In the 53rd minute, Taremi had a point-blank shot in the box, but ripped it right at Courtois, who caught it to keep the game scoreless.

Beiranvand made four first-half saves, but none were as threatening as Iran’s early chances.

Beiranvand had to raise his level of play with his first second-half save, reaching out a hand while prone on the ground to stop a 59th-minute De Cuyper shot from close range and securing the ensuing loose ball.

Salah magic inspires Egypt to historic World Cup victory

Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt to their first-ever World Cup win as they came from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-1 with a brilliant second-half display on Sunday, moving top of Group G and boosting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

After a relatively quiet first half that saw them go in behind at the break, Egypt and Salah turned up the heat in the second period as the 34-year-old winger showed he is still capable of conjuring magic from his boots.

“It’s a great achievement for all the players. It’s a great win. It’s a great vibe. The next game is very important,” Salah said as he took the plaudits amongst his teammates.

Egypt, who drew 1-1 with Belgium in their opener, moved top of the group with four points from two matches. The All Whites, held 2-2 by Iran in their opener, are bottom with one point. Belgium and the Iranians have two points after their 0-0 draw.

New Zealand’s first-half gameplan was as simple as it was effective, kicking long when they needed to and keeping possession when they could, and defender Finn Surman broke the deadlock from a corner, losing marker Ahmed Fatouh before steering a powerful header into the net.

Though Callum McCowatt had a glancing header tipped over the bar early on for New Zealand, Egypt piled on the pressure after the break and they levelled through Mostafa Zico, who headed home Mohamed Hany’s cross from the right in the 58th minute.

Salah then finally gave the crowd what they wanted nine minutes later, breaking forward down the right and playing a one-two with Zico before slotting the ball into the far corner.

Salah almost scored his second in the 81st minute, cutting in from the right and firing a deflected shot over, but he notched an assist from the resulting corner as substitute Mahmoud Trezeguet dived to head home at the near post.

EAR-SPLITTING ROAR GREETS EGYPT VICTORY

The New Zealanders gave it all they had to reduce the deficit and Hossam Abdelmaguid had to be replaced late on with a suspected concussion, his eye swelling up as he left the field.

By the 10th minute of stoppage time, the Egyptian fans were whistling loudly for the referee to end the game.

When he did, an ear-splitting roar went up as Salah and company made history with the country’s first World Cup win and coach Hossam Hassan lapped the stadium with an Egyptian flag.

“My feelings are the same as those of the Egyptian people because I am one of them. I am one of them and I love them – those who came here and those who stayed up back in Egypt watching,” Hassan said.

“The stadium felt as if we were in Egypt. The fans made it feel as though we were playing in Egypt, and I told the players, ‘We’re playing in Egypt.’ The stadium was full, like Cairo Stadium.”

New Zealand, after twice being pegged back by Iran in their 2-2 draw, again let a lead slip, and this time it proved more costly as Salah worked his magic.

“I think we contained them well enough, but they have good enough people in the whole side,” New Zealand captain Chris Wood told reporters.

“You can’t just focus on one player, and he (Salah) can pop up with a goal at any time and he showed that.”

“He’s a good player, you have to keep an eye on him, but there’s also a lot of other boys in that team that create problems and eventually they scored goals as well.”

New Zealand round off the group stage against Belgium in Vancouver, while Egypt will meet Iran in their final game with all to play for in the race for a spot in the Round of 32.