Istanbul / Ahmed Hassan / Anadolu

The Egyptian national team reached the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history, after defeating Australia 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw on Friday at Dallas Stadium in the Round of 32 of the tournament.

With this result, the Pharaohs set up a meeting in the next round on Tuesday with the winner of the match between Argentina and Cape Verde, which will be played later at Miami Stadium.

The Egyptian team became the second Arab team to qualify for this round after Morocco, which advanced against the Netherlands also on penalties earlier.

The Egyptian team managed to impose its control over the course of play from the start, but without significant danger, while the first chance of the match fell to the Australians in the fifth minute, with a brilliant left-footed shot from outside the penalty area by Christian Volpato that hit the crossbar.

From the first dangerous chance on the Australian goal, Emam Ashour succeeded in opening the scoring for Egypt with a precise header in the 14th minute, benefiting from a typical cross executed by Karim Hafez, which he directly directed to the right of the goalkeeper.

The Australian team pressed in the following minutes looking for an equalizer, but the Egyptian defense closed all avenues to its goal, and Mostafa Shobeir saved a strong ground shot from Aziz Behich from the edge of the penalty area in the 35th minute.

In the second half, the Egyptian team almost doubled their lead with a second goal in the first minute, after Omar Marmoush received a pass from Mohamed Salah behind the Australian defense to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he oddly shot the ball wide of the left post.

The Australian team attacked fiercely and besieged Egypt in their own half, successfully equalizing in the 55th minute with an own goal scored by Mohamed Hani with a header into his own net by mistake, after attempting to clear a cross from a free kick executed by Aiden O'Neill.

This goal is the second own goal Mohamed Hani has scored in the tournament after his goal against Belgium, making him the second player to score two own goals in a single World Cup edition, after Bulgarian Ivan Vutsov in the 1966 edition.

Over time, the advantage went to the Australian team, who possessed the ball, taking advantage of the declining performance of the Egyptian players who showed signs of fatigue, and tried to find a gap to penetrate the Egyptian defense without success.

The Egyptian team was close to snatching a winning goal in the 90+4 minute when Mohamed Salah passed a cross that Rami Rabia met with a powerful header, but the Australian goalkeeper miraculously saved it, before the defense blocked a strong shot heading towards goal from substitute Haitham Hassan.

The Egyptian team regained their activity in extra time to impose their superiority, and their attacking attempts continued but without change to the score, until Uruguayan referee Gustavo Tejera blew the final whistle to resort to penalty kicks, which smiled upon Egypt with a 4-2 result.

The United States, Canada, and Mexico are hosting the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup, from June 11 to July 19, with 48 teams participating.