Belgium was reduced to 10 men when its defender Nathan Ngoy was shown a direct red card in their group-stage match against Iran at the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Sunday.
Ngoy got into a duel for the ball with Mehdi Taremi and in the 66th minute, and ended up dragging the Iran forward as the referee immediately stopped play and gave marching orders to the 23-year-old defender.
Why was Nathan Ngoy shown a red card in Iran vs Belgium?
Nathan Ngoy violated Law 12.4 from the rulebook of International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the regulations of the game.
The law suggests that a player, substitute or substituted player who commits any of the following offences is sent off:
- denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by committing a deliberate handball offence (except a goalkeeper within their penalty area)
- denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by committing a non-deliberate handball offence outside their own penalty area
- denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick (unless as outlined below)
- serious foul play
- biting or spitting at someone
- violent conduct
- using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)
- receiving a second caution in the same match
- entering the video operation room (VOR)
Ngoy committed the offence under ‘denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick’.
Thus the Lille defender was given a straight red card.
Published on Jun 22, 2026
