Egypt will step onto the pitch at Seattle Stadium this evening carrying a weight that has grown heavier with every passing decade: a first-ever victory at a World Cup finals. In their fourth appearance at the tournament, the Pharaohs face Belgium in the opening match of Group G, knowing that history offers them no comfort and that their captain, Mohamed Salah, is carrying a hamstring concern into what may be his best chance to break a 90-year losing streak.
Match Preview: Redemption and Reckoning in Seattle
Belgium and Egypt go head-to-head at Lumen Field – temporarily renamed Seattle Stadium for the tournament – with kick-off set for 8pm BST, live on BBC One. The two sides are widely regarded as the strongest in the group, with Iran and New Zealand meeting in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Belgium are chasing redemption after a humiliating group-stage exit at Qatar 2022, followed by a last-16 elimination at the intervening European Championship. That twin failure has prompted a period of transition, with the so-called Golden Era of the 2010s now firmly receding. Coach Rudi Garcia, appointed in January 2025, is tasked with forging a faster, more dynamic side around a blend of experienced survivors and emerging talent. Belgium qualified for the 2026 finals with an unbeaten record in UEFA Group J, scoring 29 goals in eight matches, and have carried that form into friendlies with wins over Croatia (2-0) and Tunisia (5-0). They enter the tournament ranked ninth in the world.
“We are going to focus on our strengths, we want to be protagonists,” Garcia said on the eve of the match. “We really need to go all-in tomorrow as if it were the final. It is one of the best African squads of all time. All teams have weaknesses. We will see tomorrow if we can exploit those weaknesses.”
Kevin De Bruyne, the veteran playmaker who will operate behind a mobile front three, spoke of his personal connection with Salah. “You know, it’s going to be nice to see Mo again. Omar Marmoush I know also. I played against Mo for 10 years. Our kids also went to the same school so I saw him from time to time and he’s a really nice guy, so it will be nice to see him, nice to compete again like old times.”
Team News: Shobeir Gets the Nod as Salah Leads the Line
Egypt have made a significant call in goal, with veteran Mohamed El Shenawy – one of only three Egyptian players, alongside Salah and Trezeguet, to appear in multiple World Cups – dropping to the bench. In his place, 26-year-old Mostafa Shobeir, who plays his club football at Al Ahly and has only eight caps, has been preferred. The defensive line features Ibrahim, Hany, Fatouh and Ashour, with a midfield trio of Zico, Fathy and Lashin supporting Attia, Marmoush and Salah. The squad overall is short of top-flight talent but possesses one of the better strike partnerships at this tournament, with Salah lining up alongside Omar Marmoush, who enjoyed a breakthrough season at Manchester City. Much of Egypt’s hopes rest on the captain, who is a free agent after leaving Liverpool and has been managing a nagging hamstring injury that kept him out of parts of the run-in. This is Salah’s third World Cup campaign and he is closing in on Egypt’s all-time scoring record, currently held by coach Hossam Hassan.
Belgium also have fitness concerns. Jeremy Doku missed training ahead of the match, though he does start on the wing. Garcia’s side lines up with Thibaut Courtois in goal; a back four of Mechele, Meunier, Castagne and Ngoy; a midfield of De Bruyne, Tielemans (captain) and Onana; and an attacking trio of Trossard, Doku and De Ketelaere. Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s all-time leading scorer with 89 goals, spent much of the Serie A season on the sidelines with Napoli and unsurprisingly starts on the bench. Timothy Castagne’s inclusion at left-back ahead of Maxim De Cuyper is one of the more notable selections.
Egypt’s World Cup History: The Search for a First Win
This is Egypt’s fourth appearance at a World Cup finals and, in their three previous visits, they have never won a single match. Their record stands at zero wins, two draws and five losses. The best they have managed was a Round of 16 finish in 1934 – the second edition of the tournament – when a straight knockout format meant they were eliminated in their opening match after a 4-2 defeat to Hungary. That result still counts as a Round of 16 finish because the field was small and there was no group stage, but it also underscores the barrenness of what has followed. Egypt became the first Arab and first African team to play at a World Cup in 1934, and then endured a 56-year gap before reappearing in 1990. That campaign produced two draws – against the Netherlands and Ireland – and a defeat to England. Their only other finals appearance came in 2018, when they lost all three group matches, including a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay in which El Shenawy was named man of the match.
The frustration is all the sharper given the quality of the sides Egypt have produced in the African Cup of Nations, where they are record champions. At World Cup level, they have simply not been able to turn continental pedigree into results on the global stage. Qualification for 2026 offered renewed optimism: Egypt topped CAF Group A with an unbeaten record, scoring 20 goals and conceding only two in ten matches. Warm-up results included a draw against Brazil and a win over Russia, suggesting a side capable of competing against elite opposition. Yet the head-to-head record against Belgium is a curious one. The two nations have met four times previously, with Egypt winning three of those matches and Belgium one. The most recent encounter, a friendly on 18 November 2022, ended in a 2-1 victory for Egypt, with goals from Mostafa Mohamed and Trezeguet – the latter assisted by Salah. That result will offer some psychological encouragement, though the stakes tonight are incomparably higher.
For Belgium, the transition from the Golden Generation to a new cycle has been bumpy. After finishing third in 2018 and fourth in 1986, the Red Devils crashed out in the group stage in Qatar, a failure that hastened the departure of coach Roberto Martinez and later Domenico Tedesco. Garcia’s appointment has brought a fluid 4-2-3-1 system built on high tempo, a high press and direct attacking transitions, but defensive vulnerabilities remain. Egypt, by contrast, have shown defensive resilience and attacking potency in qualifying, and are expected to defend deep and strike on the counter. The challenge for Hossam Hassan’s side is to convert that tactical discipline into a breakthrough result – something no Egyptian team has managed in 90 years of trying.
The only Egyptian players to have appeared in more than one World Cup are Salah, El Shenawy and Trezeguet, a measure of how rare qualification has been. Salah, now 34, is running out of opportunities to lead his country to that elusive first win. Belgium, meanwhile, know that anything less than a strong start will reignite questions about their ability to compete without the core that carried them to third place in 2018. Tonight’s match, played in a stadium famous for its ear-splitting crowd noise – it holds Guinness World Records for loudest roar – will provide the setting for either a historic landmark or more of the same for a nation that has so often come up short on the biggest stage.
