Egypt Secures Historic Knockout Round Victory

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Mohamed Salah led Egypt to a historic win in the World Cup, marking their first-ever victory in the knockout round. Egypt clinched a 4-2 win on penalty kicks against Australia after a 1-1 draw on Friday.

Hossam Abdelmaguid scored the decisive penalty. Australia’s second goalkeeper, Mathew Ryan, could not stop any of Egypt’s penalty attempts, having replaced Patrick Beach late in extra time. This win marks Egypt’s fourth World Cup appearance in the tournament, the first with 48 teams. Australia’s record in the knockout rounds now stands at 0-3.

Egypt advances to face either defending champion Argentina or Cape Verde in the round of 16 scheduled for Tuesday in Atlanta.

“Me feeling today is that it’s incredible,” said Mohamed Salah, Egypt’s team captain and former Liverpool player. At 34, Salah is just one goal shy of Hossam Hassan’s national record of 69 international goals. “I always like seeing the boys happy and enjoying the moment. Nothing can match that. So today was one of the best days of my life.”

In the penalty shootout, Harry Souttar’s first attempt for Australia went too high. Lucas Herrington, only 18 years old, hit the crossbar on Australia’s fourth shot setting up Abdelmaguid’s match-clinching goal. Abdelmaguid sent the ball to Ryan’s left as Egypt secured the win, sparking celebrations among the 70,244 fans present, many wearing Egyptian red.

This win follows Egypt’s first-ever World Cup victory over New Zealand, 3-1, in the group stage just weeks earlier.

Egypt’s coach, Hossam Hassan, shared through a translator, I was only thinking about the Egyptian fans. During the entire time and during the penalty shootout, I was just praying, ‘God, please make the Egyptian people happy.’ Even before the penalty shootout, to be honest.

During penalty kicks, Salah, Mahmoud Saber, and Ramy Rabia all scored for Egypt. Despite a hamstring injury sustained in the group’s final match, Salah played throughout regulation and extra time. Jackson Irvine and Awer Mabil scored for Australia.

Hassan tried to motivate his players, saying, When I went to the players and talked to them, I wanted to take some pressure off. Do not look at the pressure. Just let everything out, don’t think about anything. Think about your penalty kick. Don’t even think about the goalkeeper. Just think about your kick.

In regulation, Emam Ashour gave Egypt a 13th-minute lead with a header. Australia equalized in the 55th minute when Egypt’s Mohamed Hany inadvertently scored an own-goal after heading Aiden O’Neill’s free-kick past Egypt’s goalkeeper, Mostafa Shoubir. Earlier in the tournament, Hany also scored an own-goal in a 1-1 draw against Belgium.

Egypt’s Omar Marmoush narrowly missed doubling their advantage early in the second half, sending a shot wide.

Ryan’s substitution as goalkeeper marked his 105th international appearance. Beach, who was only in his sixth game, made several strong saves, including a notable one against a late Rabia header during regulation.

Salah also had a late effort saved while Haissem Hassan’s last-minute shot was blocked by Souttar.

Australia’s World Cup knockout scoring remains reliant on own goals, having previously lost to Italy 1-0 in 2006 and Argentina 2-1 with another own-goal four years ago in Qatar.

“It hurts when you get that close,” said Australia coach Tony Popovic. “Unfortunately, we bow out in a penalty shootout, so it’s difficult to take right now.”