Germany will battle to avoid the humiliation of another first-round exit at the World Cup on Thursday while Belgium's "golden generation" will be fighting for their lives when they face Croatia.

Despite being holders, Germany were eliminated at the group stage four years ago in Russia, and they are desperate to avoid a repeat when they play Costa Rica in Group E.

The Germans suffered a stunning opening defeat to Japan but salvaged a draw with Spain in their next game.

The Islamic State jihadist group said Wednesday that its leader Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi has been killed in battle and announced a replacement to head up its remaining sleeper cells.

A spokesman for IS said Hashimi, an Iraqi, was killed "in combat with enemies of God", without elaborating on the date or circumstances of his death.

The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said Hashimi had been killed in an operation carried out by rebels of the Free Syrian Army in Daraa province in southern Syria in mid-October.

At least 19 people were killed and 24 others wounded Wednesday by a blast at a madrassa in Afghanistan's northern city of Aybak, a doctor at a local hospital told AFP.

There have been dozens of blasts and attacks targeting civilians since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, most claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

The doctor in Aybak, about 200 kilometres (130 miles) north of the capital Kabul, said the casualties were mostly youngsters.

"All of them are children and ordinary people," he told AFP, asking not to be named.

Football fans looking for a respite from Lebanon's crushing economic crisis have found a challenge in simply watching the World Cup after the bankrupt state failed to pay for broadcasting rights.

"No football this year," said Jean Bassil angrily, flicking through channels on his old-fashioned television screen.

"They have deprived me of the only fun thing amid all this bad news," the 58-year-old told AFP at his small phone accessories shop in Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut.

For Iranians, their football team's World Cup loss against the United States was cause for either sadness or exuberant joy, depending on where they stand on a two-month-old protest movement.

Caught between the clerical regime and calls to show solidarity with protesters, the national team pressed near-relentlessly in the second half on Tuesday night but were unable to cancel out a 38th minute opener by the US, resulting in an early exit.

With rainbow flags and "OneLove" armbands, World Cup fans have protested against host Qatar's anti-LGBTQ policies, but many queer Arabs fear a Western solidarity push could do more harm than good.

Gestures in support of the local LGBTQ community have unleashed a torrent of homophobia, activists and community members say, creating new risks for people who have long relied on discretion to survive.

Iranians had been hoping for a repeat of their 1998 World Cup victory over the United States but their 1-0 defeat in Qatar on Tuesday plunged Tehran into disappointed silence as they exited the tournament.

There was no replay of the street celebrations last Friday, when people danced after Iran beat Wales.

In a cultural centre in the north of the capital, a dozen families had gathered at the start of the evening to watch the game in Qatar on a big screen.

"Come on, come on," parents and children cried, waving Iranian flags.

The Italian who ran onto the World Cup pitch wearing a T-shirt in support of Ukraine and Iranian women defended his protest Tuesday, despite being served a tournament ban.

Mario Ferri, 35, a football player with a history of similar stunts, interrupted the Portugal-Uruguay game Monday when he sprinted onto the pitch wearing a blue Superman T-shirt with "Save Ukraine" on the front and "Respect for Iranian Woman" on the back.

Ferri, who calls himself "The Falcon", also carried a rainbow-coloured flag adorned with the words PACE, meaning peace in Italian.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast doubt on Baghdad's commitment to secure their common border during talks Tuesday in Tehran with new Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Ties between the two neighbours have lately been strained by tensions over Iran carrying out cross-border strikes against exiled Kurdish opposition groups it accuses of fomenting unrest at home.

The Italian who ran on to the World Cup pitch wearing a T-shirt in support of Ukraine and Iranian women is a football player with a history of similar stunts.

Mario Ferri, 35, who calls himself "The Falcon", interrupted the Portugal-Uruguay game on Monday when he sprinted on to the pitch wearing a blue Superman T-shirt with "Save Ukraine" on the front and "Respect for Iranian Woman" on the back.

He also carried a rainbow-coloured flag adorned with the words PACE, meaning peace in Italian.