Egypt reached the World Cup last 16 for the first time in their history after beating Australia 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time in their round-of-32 clash in Dallas on Friday, extending the Pharaohs’ dream run at the 2026 finals.
The victory marked Egypt’s first win in a World Cup knockout match and sent the seven-time African champions into the last 16 in their fourth appearance at the global showpiece.
Coach Hossam Hassan was in tears at the final whistle as his players celebrated wildly on the pitch, while thousands of Egyptian fans inside the stadium gave the team a standing ovation.
Egypt will face the winners of the match between Argentina and Cape Verde for a place in the quarter-finals.
After 120 minutes failed to separate the sides, Egypt held their nerve in the shootout, converting all four of their penalties through Mahmoud Saber, Ramy Rabia, Mohamed Salah and Hossam Abdelmaguid.
Australia missed twice, with Harry Souttar blazing over before teenage defender Lucas Herrington struck the crossbar to hand Egypt victory.
Emam Ashour gave Egypt the lead in the 13th minute, heading home Karim Hafez’s cross after the Pharaohs recycled a free kick.
Australia levelled 10 minutes into the second half when Mohamed Hany inadvertently turned Aiden O’Neill’s dangerous free kick into his own net under pressure from Alessandro Circati.
The match remained finely balanced through the remainder of normal time and extra time, though Egypt finished the stronger side. The introduction of Haissem Hassen, who made his World Cup debut, provided a much-needed spark on the right flank. Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach produced a string of fine saves to deny Ramy Rabia and Marwan Attia late in regulation, while Mostafa Shobeir made several important stops at the other end to keep Egypt in the contest.
With penalties looming, Australia replaced Beach with veteran goalkeeper Mathew Ryan specifically for the shootout, but the tactical switch failed to pay off as Egypt converted each of their four spot kicks.
Salah calmly dinked his panenka penalty down the middle before Abdelmaguid sealed a famous victory with the decisive kick, sparking jubilant celebrations among the Egyptian players and supporters.
