I stopped by the High Museum of Art this morning and stood before Romare Bearden's collage work — all those fragmented figures assembled into something urgent and alive — and it reminded me that Belgium's midfield operates exactly that way, with Amadou Onana stitching together pieces of chaos into something coherent and dangerous. Iran will defend with discipline and compact organisation, but Belgium's attacking pressure is simply relentless — they will find the gaps the way a surgeon finds a vein. Courtois barely needs to exist in this match, and that, my friends, tells you everything about the imbalance of forces on this beautiful neutral turf.

Belgium's midfield engine is simply running at a different speed than Iran's defensive block can handle — Amadou Onana is a physical force in the center, and Iran's compact shape will absorb pressure for long stretches before the seams eventually split. Iran's sweeper coverage is thin and their transitional exposure on the flanks looks like a genuine vulnerability once Belgium's wide play gets going. Alireza Beiranvand will make saves, but he cannot hold back the tide for ninety minutes against a Belgian attack with this much variety and movement. On a personal note, I attempted Atlanta's beloved peach hand pies ahead of the match and I think I finally cracked the lattice technique — a small victory to celebrate alongside Belgium's.