Belgium are a team in transition but they've been in fine form heading into the World Cup and will be out to hit the ground running in their Group G opener with Egypt.
Only a few players from Belgium's ‘golden generation' remain and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are past their peak.
But there's some exciting young talent emerging and the Red Devils head into these finals on a 13-game unbeaten run.
They've scored 20 times across their last five matches but now need to find a way to break down a stubborn Egypt defence.
Despite being record seven-time winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt have flopped in their four World Cup tournaments.
They've yet to win a game at the greatest show on earth but will be looking to put that right with the likes of Mo Salah and Omar Marmoush in their attack.
I'd imagine both teams will probably qualify from a section that also includes Iran and New Zealand but a win in this opener would go a long towards that.
How the bookies view it: Belgians to stay on a roll
With Belgium is such good form, they're 8/13 hot favourites to start Group G with a win. Egypt are 19/4 outsiders and the draw pays 14/5.
Head to head: Egyptian curse for Red Devils
Egypt can take heart from their record against the Belgians as they've won three of the four meetings. They last faced off in a 2022 friendly and it ended in a 2-1 victory for the Egyptians.
All those games were friendlies though and this is the first competitive meeting.
Players to watch: Doku can make the difference
Belgium may need a bit of magic to break down Egypt's defence and Jeremy Doku is the man most likely to provide it. The Manchester City winger is 11/10 at Bet365 to score or assist and that looks decent value as his pace and trickery could cause plenty of problems.
This could be Egyptian star Salah's last chance to light up a World Cup and the 33-year-old will be desperate to impress. His final season at Liverpool wasn't great but the little magician could be worth backing for a goal or assist at 13/8.
If you're having a punt on a scorer bet, make sure you check out our guide to the top 2026 World Cup betting apps.
Probable line-ups
Belgium: Courtois, Meunier, De Cuyper, Debast, Mechele, Onana, Tielemans, De Bruyne, Trossard, Doku, Lukaku.
Egypt: Elshenawy, Hany, Ibrahim, Abdelmaguid, Fatouh, Fathy, Ashour, Attia, Trezeguet, Marmoush, Salah.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's hard to predict if we'll see a lot of goals in this one as free-scoring Belgium go up against a strong Egyptian defence.
The Pharaohs have lost just two of their last 12 games, conceding only eight goals in the process, so that's why under 2.5 strikes only pays 4/5 at Bet365. I'm more drawn to the half-time stalemate at 5/4.
The Belgians racked up 14 corners in their final warm-up game with Tunisia and could get a few more here. Backing them at -2 in the corner handicap pays evens at Bet365.
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