Rudi Garcia kept faith with the same Belgium team that had faced Tunisia, and Brandon Mechele was named in the starting line-up for the World Cup opener against Egypt in Seattle. Belgium went with a four-man defense, with Meunier and Castagne on the flanks and Ngoy alongside Mechele in the middle.
The selection matters because this is Belgium's first match of the tournament, the kind of game that can set the tone immediately. Garcia said the team had to score to win, and he did not see a need for another attacking player behind Doku, choosing instead to keep the shape compact and the balance intact with Castagne at left-back.
Mechele's inclusion also speaks to the job Belgium expect him to do. Garcia said it was good to have his experience next to Ngoy and to have two right-footed players ready to deal with the left foot of Salah. That detail fits the larger plan: Onana, Tielemans and De Bruyne were in midfield, while Trossard, De Ketelaere and Doku formed the front line.
Belgium arrived with a strong opener record, having won its first World Cup match every time since 2014, including against Algeria, Panama and Canada. Egypt, by contrast, had never won a World Cup match, but that did not make this a routine night. Egypt still had Omar Marmoush and Mo Salah as its main attacking threats, and Salah turned 34 on the day of the match.
That is the friction in Belgium's clean-looking selection. The past favors Belgium, but history alone does not blunt a forward line like that. The two sides had already crossed paths twice in recent years, with Belgium winning 3-0 in 2018 and Egypt taking a 2-1 friendly four years later, and Belgium now had to see whether Garcia's choice of Mechele over Theate would hold up once the match began.
For Belgium, the opening whistle would answer the only question that matters now: whether this measured setup gives Mechele and the rest of the back line enough protection to turn a careful start into three points.
