Egypt’s national football team joined the World Cup round-of-16 field after overcoming Australia in the first knockout stage.
Imam Ashour put the ‘Pharaohs’ ahead as early as the 13th minute, but after the break an unfortunate own goal by Mohamed Ghani allowed the Australians to draw level. Ninety minutes were not enough to settle it, and extra time also passed without a goal.
A key decision by Australia coach Tony Popovic — taking off breakout World Cup goalkeeper Patrick Beach two minutes from the end and replacing him for the penalty shootout with the more experienced Mathew Ryan — proved to be a mistake: Ryan did not save a single attempt.
And the Kangaroos’ players were far from perfect from the spot: Souttar and Herrington missed, sending Egypt through. Reaching the knockout rounds was already a historic achievement for the Africans, and now they have firmly established themselves as the most successful Egypt squad in World Cup history. The 1934 round of 16 does not count: there was no group stage then, and the tournament began immediately with knockout matches.
In the next match for a place in the quarter-finals, Mohamed Salah and company will face the winner of the Argentina–Cape Verde tie.