Egypt has booked their first ever trip to the Round of 16 after defeating Australia in penalties, following a 1-1 draw across 120 minutes. The dream continues for Egypt, who had only qualified for the tournament three times prior and had not won in seven previous World Cup games.
It took just 13 minutes for the first major action of the game, with Egypt making the breakthrough. After Salah’s free-kick set up Ashour to shoot, the latter’s blocked shot was not cleared. Picking the ball up on the right side of the box, Hafez put in a superb cross to Ashour at the back post, and he powerfully headed home the chance to score his second goal of the World Cup.
With a back and forth matched that lacked many real chances, Australia managed to find their way back into the match with some help from the Egyptian defense. In the 55th minute, Australian player O’Neill delivered a wonderful curling delivery, where Hany leaped above everyone and unfortunately struck a header into the top corner of his own net. Hany scored his second own goal, making it the 13th overall in the 2026 World Cup—a record for a single tournament.
In the dying moments of the regulation, Egypt nearly found their winner. Rabia’s header was both accurate and powerful, but the Australian goalkeeper, Beach, made a big save and tipped it over the crossbar.
Salah and Egypt were the ones attacking for most of the extra time periods, but were unable to find a winner. The biggest moment of the final 30 minutes was Australia’s decision to bring in experienced goalkeeper Matt Ryan for the penalty shootout— a moment that proved to not make a difference.
In the penalty shootout, Australia missed two penalties, and Egypt netted all four to send them through to the Round of 16. Next up for Egypt is a matchup against Argentina or Cape Verde on July 7th in Atlanta.
