Football Bet of the Day: Red Devils to start with a bang

Belgium begin their 2026 World Cup campaign with a clash against Egypt on Monday (8pm BST, live on BBC One), and I can only see it going one way.

Read on for my Football Bet of the Day.

Belgium finished first in qualifying Group J ahead of Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.

They finished two points ahead of Craig Bellamy's team, but while they went unbeaten in qualifying, they only won five of their eight matches.

Belgium fans were a tad worried after their side only just secured first place in the group, but things have improved in recent months.

The Red Devils are now unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions and they were regimented at the back, conceding only seven goals in qualifying.

Their four friendlies since March have all been against teams that feature at this summer's tournament and the signs are positive. They hammered the USA 5-2 away from home, drew 1-1 with Mexico, beat Croatia 2-0 and then cruised past Tunisia in a 5-0 rout.

Egypt have only lost one of their last four and they were able to secure a 0-0 draw against Spain in March, but there is the sense that the kings of AFCON will struggle on the world stage once again.

For all of Egypt's dominance on home soil, they have never won a World Cup match and they rely heavily on Mohamed Salah, who just endured a season to forget in his final campaign for Liverpool.

Fellow forward Omar Marmoush has bags of ability, but he has spent most of the season on the bench at Manchester City.

Aside from those two, there is a lack of depth to the Egypt squad, with most of their team playing domestically.

Belgium's golden generation has been and gone, but the "dark horses" of previous years should still have enough quality to overcome Egypt.

Garcia will call upon Thibaut Courtois in goal, while Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana will try to dictate play in midfield.

With Leandro Trossard, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku in attack, Belgium have enough firepower to outclass Egypt and their recent form suggests they are capable of starting the tournament with a win.

Hossam Hassan's team have only scored in two of their last five games outside Egypt and that inconsistency in front of goal should come back to haunt them.

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