"We messed up, everyone knows it": Lukaku furious after the draw against Iran, Belgium already in danger

Interviewed after the match, the Red Devils made their self-criticism after their difficult performance against Iran (0-0) on Sunday.

The Belgians are in a state of crisis. After their rather lackluster draw against Iran (0-0), Rudi Garcia's men are already up against it in this World Cup, having yet to win a single match.

Interviewed by RTBF after the match, Romelu Lukaku sounded the alarm: "When you go into a match with a plan, you have to stick to it. We didn't always do that. We could have switched ends faster, or kept possession at certain times. On the other hand, we delivered enough crosses into the box, but we didn't convert them, and that's what's a shame."

The Belgian national team's all-time leading scorer didn't stop there. "We messed up, everyone knows it. We have to move forward, it's time we woke up, raised our level in training. We have to be tougher on each other," he continued before describing a "silent" locker room after the draw.

"The goalkeeper played the game of his life."

Speaking in the mixed zone, Thibaut Courtois preferred to talk about Alireza Beiranvand's performance, who made 7 saves: "I saved a few balls, but it was mainly their goalkeeper who played the game of his life. He's not the first goalkeeper to stand out at this World Cup. But we also have to blame ourselves: we weren't efficient enough."

The Belgian goalkeeper did find some positives in this performance: “Overall, we played a pretty good match, but we often struggle against deep-lying defenses. This was already the case in the qualifying match against North Macedonia at home (0-0). Iran played a 5-4-1 formation, which was even more defensive than we anticipated. We followed the coach's plan, but sometimes we need to play faster.”

Currently third in their group, the Belgians will play against New Zealand next Saturday. A crucial match against the bottom-placed team, who lost to Egypt (1-3) last night.