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Sun 21 Jun · 19:00 UTC · 21:00 CEST · Group G

full time

Belgium0–0Iran

1945+19rating1896-389thfifa20thup 1
L. Trossard2075talismanM. Taremi1698

SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles · 70,240 seats

Missed it. It stays up.

Belgium to win

home 44%draw 26% ✓away 30%

sealed Fri 19 Jun · 19:30 UTC · 21:30 CEST · nothing deleted

By The DeskScout sourced the formAnalyst reasoned the callGates clearedGrader settled it

locked Fri, 19 Jun 2026 19:30:31 GMT · model elo-davidson-features-v2

The read

No prose on this one. The desk let the number do the talking. The call stands, and it goes on the record either way.

The ratings

The two strength reads behind this fixture: our results-based rating, the same forward-only engine the sealed call uses, read monthly, and FIFA's official table. Up is stronger on both lines; green is climbing, red is sliding. Context beside the call; the sealed number does not move.

Belgium

ProofXI rating

1945+19 this year

1926 → 1945 · 13 readings

FIFA world rank

9thheld on the latest list

8th → 9th · 6 lists

Iran

ProofXI rating

1896-38 this year

1934 → 1896 · 13 readings

FIFA world rank

20thup 1 place on the latest list

20th → 20th · 6 lists

the gap on our board today: Belgium by 49 points

How we got hereWe make Belgium the stronger side, and seal the call at about 4 in 10. Open for the working.openclose

The arithmetic behind the call: a rating edge, in points, mapped to a probability.

Belgium rating edge+68
Home advantage0 (neutral venue)
Net edge+68

Davidson Elo→1X2 turns that +68 edge into 44% / 26% / 30% for home, draw, away.

Ratings only. Recent form and rest are not modelled for national sides.

How it could go

The same sealed edge, played as goals instead of straight to a result: our goals model runs the match score by score. The call above stands, this is its texture.

Belgium

1.4

expected goals

Iran

1.2

expected goals

The scorelines it sees most

  • 1113 in 100
  • 1010 in 100
  • 219 in 100
the fuller goal pictureopenclose
  • 008 in 100

three or more goals: 48 in 100 · clean sheet: Belgium 31 in 100, Iran 24 in 100

glassbox-goals-v1, our own goals model, run from the same ratings as the call. Frequencies, never a market.

The scorecard

  • Belgium win at home.✗ wrong
  • No blowout: Belgium win by a single goal at most, if at all.✓ right
  • An open game in which both teams find the net.✗ wrong

The team sheets

The confirmed elevens, as named. The number beside each name is his rating on our player board, a sourced shadow signal. The sealed call above was made days before these sheets existed, and it does not move.

Belgium4-2-3-1

  1. 1Thibaut CourtoisG1997
  2. 15Thomas MeunierD1839
  3. 25Nathan NgoyD1838
  4. 4Brandon MecheleD1895
  5. 5Maxim De CuyperD1892
  6. 23Nicolas RaskinM1673
  7. 8Youri TielemansM2003
  8. 22Alexis SaelemaekersM1825
  9. 7Kevin De BruyneM1863
  10. 10Leandro TrossardM2075
  11. 9Romelu LukakuF1905

11 of 11 starters carry folded match data on our board; the rest sit at the seed prior. We rate what we've seen.

The bench

Iran5-4-1

  1. 1Alireza BeiranvandG1629
  2. 2Saleh HardaniD1595
  3. 13Hossein KanaaniD1615
  4. 4Shoja KhalilzadehD1589
  5. 19Ali NematiD~1597 provisional
  6. 3Ehsan HajsafiD1569
  7. 23Ramin RezaeianM1587
  8. 14Saman GhoddosM1595
  9. 6Saeid EzatolahiM1588
  10. 8Mohammad MohebiM1560
  11. 9Mehdi TaremiF1698

10 of 11 starters carry folded match data on our board; the rest sit at the seed prior. We rate what we've seen.

The bench

source: api-football.com · fetched Sun, 21 Jun 2026 18:24:24 GMT

The timeline

The goals, assists and substitutions as they came, read straight off the match feed, by the clock. Sourced facts; the call above was sealed days before any of them.

  1. 46'A. Jahanbakhsh for S. Hardanisub
  2. 58'T. Castagne for T. Meuniersub
  3. 58'H. Vanaken for N. Raskinsub
  4. 58'D. Lukebakio for A. Saelemaekerssub
  5. 66'M. Mohammadi for E. Hajsafisub
  6. 66'M. Torabi for M. Mohebisub
  7. 73'A. Theate for R. Lukakusub
  8. 79'S. Moghanlou for S. Ghoddossub
  9. 85'A. Hosseinzadeh for S. Ezatolahisub
  10. 87'M. Fernandez-Pardo for K. De Bruynesub

source: api-football.com · fetched Sun, 21 Jun 2026 21:21:23 GMT

Full time

Missed it.

Belgium 0-0 Iran

Verdict
wrong and wrong
Claims right
1/3

The debrief

We sealed Belgium to win at 44%, about 4 in 10, before kickoff. Full time said Belgium 0-0 Iran: the draw, an outcome we had at 26 in 100.

The call missed and the reasoning went with it. Nothing here gets softened: the claims that failed are named below, and the miss goes on the record at full weight. The claims went 1 of 3.

What we got wrong, by name

  • Belgium win at home.
  • An open game in which both teams find the net.

One match never grades the model, calibration is judged over the whole record, and this one is now in it.

How it moved our numbersThis result nudged our live ratings for both sides. Open for the signed moves.openclose

On the live national Elo, this result moved Belgium -6 and Iran +6.

On our player board, the squads moved Belgium -40 (16 appearances) · Iran +70 (15 appearances).

Our own ratings, computed from the result, a shadow signal beside the call, never one of its inputs. The sealed forecast above does not move.

THE DESK AT WORK

  1. ScoutSourced the inputsPulled both sides' ratings.
  2. AnalystWeighed the edgeNet edge +68 after home advantage; drafted 3 checkable claims.
  3. ModelMapped it to a distributionDavidson Elo→1X2 → 44/26/30 (home/draw/away).Favourite: Belgium · 44%
  4. ScribeFiled the readPrepared the read behind the call.
  5. GatekeeperCleared the gatesNo betting markets · Sourced facts only · No fabricated names · Falsifiable claims, all clear.
  6. The DeskLocked the callLocked Belgium v Iran before kickoff.

A replay of how this call was built. Real steps, paced to read. The model owns the favourite; the desk sources and explains it.

Behind the glass

The pipeline

  1. Researchinputs sourced
  2. Forecastlocked before kickoff
  3. Drafthouse template
  4. Gatesall checks passed
  5. Publishshadow
  6. Gradescored vs the result

The checks

  • No betting markets

    The call is built from football strength alone, never a bookmaker's price, as an input or anywhere on the page.

  • Sourced facts only

    Every player, squad or result fact must trace to a dated source under seven days old, or it is blocked before publish.

  • No fabricated names

    A registry blocks invented or mistaken player and team names from ever reaching the page.

  • Falsifiable claims

    Each claim on the scorecard must be checkable against the final result, no vague hedging that can't be graded.