Wait for World Cup win goes on for Egypt as Salah contributes in new role

After their 1-1 draw with Belgium to open their account at the 2026 World Cup, the Pharaohs' record in this tournament stands at eight played, three draws and five losses.

But, despite the drought going on, encouragement and satisfaction with a point gained against the highest-ranked side in Group G should spur them on to success against New Zealand and Iran. 

Emam Ashour scored Egypt's only goal of the game in the 19th minute, before an own goal, forced by the inclusion of Belgian substitute Romelu Lukaku, saw the spoils shared in Seattle in a back-and-forth, entertaining contest.

Salah reinvented?

It’s been eight years since Salah graced the World Cup stage. In that time, he has won it all at club level, and has very little left to prove except success with the Pharaohs.

Two appearances and two goals in 2018 came and went, and now 34 - celebrating his birthday on Monday - his starting position startled many.

Playing in the 10, behind rather than alongside Omar Marmoush, it looked unfamiliar to the eye, like seeing a polar bear in Arlington, Texas, but it didn’t take long for it to make sense.

Dropping deep to avoid the presence of Youri Tielemans, Salah slid a ball into the feet of Ashour, and he applied the finish.

The role freed Salah up, removing some of the issues he’s faced in an Egyptian shirt with teams doubling up on him and effectively removing him from the game. It also allowed his teammates to keep Belgium quiet on the wings. Salah’s work rate has come into question with Liverpool, but moving him centrally removes that responsibility from his game.

This won’t go down as his finest hour. The assist proved that the gamble paid off, but his chances were limited in front of goal - his best came with a header, parried away by Thibaut Courtois.

That would be his last serious action in the game, taken off with 14 minutes remaining. He left to a voracious ovation - it won’t be his last game in Seattle with Egypt facing Iran back here on June 26th, and he will be wanting more from his potentially final World Cup.

Tielemans happy to stop Egypt transition

One of Belgium's biggest goals would have been to stop Salah getting a stranglehold on proceedings, and they did that to good effect.

Speaking after the game to reporters, Tielemans explained: "We played against Egypt, not against Salah only.

"We tried to break their transition game, which in some moments they came through it, they had some chances in transition, but we know we can do better.

"...We lost too many balls, we weren't quick enough in transition, and when we had the ball, we weren't quick enough to find solutions. We were too static, especially in the first half and then in the second half we created some chances which we could have won the game. They had some chances as well, so 1-1 was a fair point."

The Red Devils earned that point through Lukaku, forcing Mohamed Hany into putting the ball into his own net, and Tielemans was pleased for his teammate to make such an impact coming off the bench.

He added: "Biggest impact, first touch, first goal. That helped us, he's a target man, he needs to build up his fitness, which is understandable, being out for the season, but he helps us in this way."

A point was a fair result on the day, and both sides will be pleased to be up and running in Group G, especially given their on-paper easier assignments to come against New Zealand and Iran, where you'd expect Egypt to finally end their long wait for a World Cup win.

Josh Donaldson is a Global Senior Editor and International Football Specialist for Flashscore. From the UK, now living in Prague, Josh specialises in football and cycling and can be found at an obscure ground watching games or on his bike. You can follow Josh on X and read his articles here.