Written by: Mohammed Omran
The Egyptian national team succeeded in writing a new chapter in its history, after securing a ticket to the round of 16 of the World Cup for the first time, following its 4-2 victory over the Australian national team in a penalty shootout, in the match that brought them together at Dallas Stadium in Texas.
After a football epic, Egypt defeats Australia on penalties and makes history.
The original and extra times ended in a 1-1 draw, after Emam Ashour opened the scoring for the Egyptian national team in the 13th minute with a wonderful header, before the Australian national team equalized with an own goal scored by Mohamed Hany by mistake in his own net following a cross that he turned into the net.
The Pharaohs sealed qualification on penalties after the original time ended.
The first minutes of the match witnessed great excitement, as the Australian team started the match with offensive pressure, and almost opened the scoring in the fifth minute when one of their shots hit the crossbar, before Ramy Rabia intervened in the seventh minute and prevented a clear opportunity for the Australian striker.
The tie between the two teams continued until the end of regular time, and then the match extended into two extra halves without either team managing to score, leading the two sides to resort to a penalty shootout.
In the decisive penalty shootout, the Egyptian national team players shone, successfully scoring four penalties against only two for the Australian team, thus securing the Pharaohs qualification for the Round of 16, achieving an unprecedented historic accomplishment in their World Cup participations.
The first few minutes saw a back-and-forth pressure from both teams, as the Australian team almost opened the scoring early in the fifth minute with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar, before Ramy Rabia intervened and saved the Pharaohs' goal from a dangerous one-on-one situation in the seventh minute.
Egypt and Australia deliver a strong half and end in a draw
In the 13th minute, the Egyptian national team succeeded in scoring the opening goal through Emam Ashour, who scored with a precise header, giving the Pharaohs the lead in a first half that ended with Egypt ahead by one goal to nil.
The Egyptian national team continued their attacking attempts, as Omar Marmoush missed an opportunity to score a second goal in the 18th minute after a shot that hit an Australian defender and went wide. Also, a goal for Zizo was disallowed in the 20th minute due to offside.
With the start of the second half, the Egyptian national team continued to waste chances, most notably a dangerous one-on-one for Omar Marmoush in front of the goal, but he surprisingly put the ball wide of the net.
In the 55th minute, the Australian team managed to score the equalizer through an own goal by Mohamed Hany, bringing the match back to a draw.
The positive 1-1 draw continued until the 60th minute amid a strong performance from both sides and an exchange of chances, in a match that remains open to all possibilities.
Egypt's squad was formed as follows: Goalkeeping: Mostafa Shobeir
Defense: Mohamed Hany – Yasser Ibrahim – Ramy Rabia – Karim Hafez
Midfield: Hamdi Fathi – Marwan Attia – Emam Ashour
Attack line: Mostafa Zico – Mohamed Salah – Omar Marmoush
On the bench: Mohamed El Shenawy – El Mahdi Soliman – Mohamed Alaa – Tarek Alaa – Nabil Emad “Donga” – Ibrahim Adel – Haitham Hassan – Ahmed Sayed “Zizo” – Hamza Abdel Karim – Mahmoud Saber – Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet”
Egypt's qualification for the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup came after they finished second in Group G with 5 points. They achieved this by defeating New Zealand (3-1) and drawing with Belgium and Iran (1-1), securing a spot in the second round in a historic achievement.
In contrast, Australia qualified for the same round after finishing second in Group D with 4 points, following a 2-0 victory over Turkey, a 0-0 draw with Paraguay, and a 0-2 loss to the United States.
