Surprise in the premiere of Group 7 of the 2026 World Cup, as Egypt held Belgium to a 1-1 draw at Seattle Stadium in Seattle, in the presence of 66,775 spectators.

The “Pharaohs” with Hossam Hassan on their bench, proved that they will be a “tough nut to crack” for any opponent and opened the scoring with a stunning shot by Ashour in the 19th minute. It was… a half before Rudi Garcia’s Belgium entered the match, who dramatically increased their performance in the second 45 minutes. They had a goal on the post from a direct free kick by De Bruyne in the 53rd minute and reached the equalizer with an own goal by Hani in the 66th minute. However, they were unable to achieve anything more against Mohamed Salah’s team, who celebrated his 34th birthday with a success and wearing the armband of the Egyptian captain.

Referee: Ramon Abatí (Brazil)
Yellow cards: Castaneda, De Kuyper – Atia

The compositions of the two teams:

BELGIUM (Rudi Garcia): Courtois, Mechele, Meunier, Castagner (56′ Raskin), Ngoy, De Bruyne (86′ Vanaken), Tielemans, Onana (56′ De Kuyper), Trossard, Dokou (86′ Fernandes-Pardo), De Ketelare (65′ Lukaku)

EGYPT (Hosham Hassan): Soumir, Ibrahim, Hani, Fatouh (89′ Hafez), Ashour (71′ Rabia), Zico (76′ Zizo), Fati (89′ Adel), Lassin, Atia, Salah (76′ Abdelkarim), Marmous