Egypt overcome Australia to reach last 16 in 2026 World Cup

DUBAI: Egypt have beaten Australia in a penalty shootout at Dallas Stadium to reach the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. It was their first-ever knockout stage win.

They now join Morocco as the second African and Arab nation to reach the last 16 of this tournament.

Egypt had been buoyed by the news that captain and talisman Mohamed Salah had overcome injury concerns after asking to be substituted in the last group match against Iran. Going into the match, a front four of Salah, Mostafa Zico, Emam Ashour, and Omar Marmoush on paper posed a major threat to the Australian defense.

The Socceroos once again started with a 3-4-3 formation, with 20-year-old Nestor Irankunda tasked with providing the threat up front.

The first chance of the match fell to Cristian Volpato after five minutes, his left-footed curling effort skimming the top of Egypt’s bar. Minutes later, Jordan Bos drove through the Egyptian defense before being thwarted by Mohamed Hany as he shaped to have an effort on Mostafa Shobeir’s goal.

The breakthrough came at the other end, however, and it took the Pharaohs only 13 minutes to take the lead, with Ashour starting and ending the passage of play which gave him his second goal of the tournament. His initial shot from a Salah lay-off was blocked, and when the ball was then crossed into the box by Karim Hafez, Ashour’s free header gave Australian keeper Patrick Beach no chance.

Following the hydration break, Australia came more into the game, but the rest of the half was a stop-start affair, with niggly fouls and stoppages preventing any period of maintained dominance from either team.

Seconds into the second half Marmoush could have dealt Australia a mortal blow, but his right-foot finish drifted past