Egypt made the Round of 16 in not particularly convincing fashion, only seeing off Australia following a penalty shootout.
Few will be expecting them to reach the quarter-finals, with Argentina up next.
Here are our Scout Notes from the Pharaohs’ victory, featuring match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.
AUSTRALIA 1-1 EGYPT (2-4 PENS)
- Goals: Hany own-goal | Ashour
- Assists: O’Neill | Hafez
- Tackle bonus: Attia
- Top points scorers: Ashour (10), Trewin (9), O’Neill (7), Hafez (7)
TEAM STATS
PLAYER STATS
SCOUT NOTES
- You could make a good argument that Egypt deserved to progress (3-0 on big chances, 3-1 on efforts on target and 1.36-0.87 on xG) but it otherwise wasn’t persuasive stuff from the Pharaohs, whose only win (excluding shootouts) in this tournament so far was against the lowest-ranked nation, New Zealand. Then again, they’ve not yet been beaten.
- In Mohamed Salah ($10.0m) and Omar Marmoush ($7.8m), they possess elite-level players that Australia do not. But neither was at their best on Friday, with Salah looking not quite fully fit. The former Liverpool man had been a concern for this fixture with a hamstring issue, and he didn’t seem 100% in this match. However, his manager insisted after the game that his involvement was never in doubt:
“I knew exactly what I was doing. A coach – whether it’s me or anyone else – must avoid revealing too much or speaking too openly about the details. I knew Salah would start, but I simply stated that he was part of the squad – that he might start, or just be available for the match. That’s the job; you have to handle things politically, so to speak, in a sporting sense. At the same time, I’m happy Salah finished the match and really pushed himself.” – Hossam Hossan
- Despite not being at his optimal levels, Salah still ended up with two shots and five key passes – and all but one of those seven actions came after the 90th minute. Lasting the full two hours was further fuel to the argument that he wasn’t ever going to miss this match, regardless of how quiet he was for large periods. The ‘Egyptian King’ so very nearly bagged an assist with a superb cross for Ramy Rabia ($3.6m), whose header was brilliantly clawed out by Patrick Beach. The best of Salah’s two chances came in extra time, when he lashed over. The 34-year-old former Red did, at least, confidently Panenka a penalty in the shootout!
- Marmoush was again a disappointment. Spurning one glorious chance just after half-time, he was otherwise poor and hooked halfway through extra time. A failure to reproduce for the national team is becoming a common criticism.
- Emam Ashour ($4.6m) is now Egypt’s leading points-scorer in Fantasy. The budget midfielder, only 1.4% owned, bagged his second goal of the tournament when nodding in the opener. He had more attempts here (five) than anyone else, doubling his shot count for the World Cup.
- Annoyingly for those managers who punted on Egypt’s backline (who were in-form prior to the big kick-off), it was a fourth straight match in which a clean sheet has been busted by a solitary goal. Two of those four goals have come from their own man, Mohamed Hany ($3.6m)! He scored his second own-goal of the World Cup here, putting through his own net from a set piece. Australia otherwise rarely threatened, their one shot on target a tame one from the edge of the box. The Socceroos also clipped the top of the bar from distance but were disappointing, given that Egypt were perhaps there for the taking (Salah not fully firing, three regulars out injured/suspended). The ultimately fruitless decision to swap goalkeepers prior to the shootout put the cherry on the excrement.
