Belgium battle back to draw with Egypt

Group G

Belgium 1-1 Egypt

A second-half own goal denied Egypt a first ever World Cup win as Belgium rescued a point from their Group G opener in Seattle.

The Pharaohs took the lead in the 21st minute through Al Ahly midfielder Emam Ashour, who thundered a 20-yard strike into the bottom corner past Thibaut Courtois.

But Thomas Meunier’s low cross was turned into his own net by Egypt defender Mohamed Hany in the 66th minute, under pressure from substitute Romelu Lukaku.

Egypt were backed by a passionate support base on the USA’s west coast as they hunted their first World Cup win in eight games, having made their tournament debut back in 1934.

Instead the seven-time African champions spent the final moments holding on and managed to avoid defeat at a World Cup for only the third time.

Despite being record Africa Cup of Nations winners, Egypt have a poor record across their previous three World Cup appearances, and have now failed to win any of their eight games since their debut 92 years ago.

After going ahead, they nearly doubled their lead before the break when Mostafa Zico’s drilled strike across goal was tipped behind by Belgium keeper Courtois.

Playing on his 34th birthday, Egypt captain Mohamed Salah also had a second-half header well-saved by Courtois and goalscorer Ashour failed to hit the target on the rebound.

Belgium manager Rudi Garcia introduced the Red Devils’ all-time leading goalscorer Lukaku in the 66th minute – and seconds later his presence spooked Hany into his error.

Hamstring injuries had limited Lukaku to just 40 minutes in Serie A for Napoli across the 2025-26 season.

A few minutes before the equaliser, his club team-mate Kevin de Bruyne had struck the outside of the post from a free-kick as Belgium started to take control.

Belgium play their second Group G game against Iran in Los Angeles on Sunday (20:00 BST), while Egypt face New Zealand in Vancouver (02:00 BST Monday).