Jonathan Wilson was at Dallas Stadium, and his report is in ... along with some more analysis from Jack Snape. Congratulations to Egypt for their first-ever World Cup knockout victory; commiserations to Australia; and thanks to you for reading this MBM. Argentina v Cape Verde next!
Tony Popovic speaks to SBS. “It’s tough … it’s tough now, yeah … I think we showed the world that Australian football is strong … a wonderful group … I’m devastated for them that we can’t progress … obviously it takes a great man to step up and take a pen … unfortunately we go home and the World Cup ends for us … [bringing on Mat Ryan] was always an option for us with his experience … you’ve got to see how the game plays out … sometimes in extra time players go down and you need to make the changes and you don’t have the staff available, but we had one available and we put Matty on … it is a wonderful group, they’ve shown how good they are tonight … at this moment right now everything is a little bit tough to take, but I’m sure every Australian is proud of the group … I’m sure their families and friends and every Australian back home who has watched will be very proud tonight.”
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A tearful Jackson Irvine talks to SBS. “First of all, congratulations to Egypt, huge victory for them … an historic day for them as well … we took it way to the very end … penalties is a cruel way to lose, but anybody who has got the confidence to step up and take that ball after 120 minutes, or however long you have played, it takes a big heart and I hope everyone stays behind them and they get all the support … the great Aussie spirit is uplifting each other and that’s what you do … we said from the beginning we have a champion team … our strength is in the team … it’s not about any player … we are a unit … we do everything together … we win together, we lose together - everything … so many young boys who will be better for this experience … just the beginning for these guys … to finish second and an honest second as well … they’ve got a big future … a big Asian Cup coming up in six months’ time … we will pick ourselves up and try to get back to being competitive on the highest level which is where we want to be.”
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Post-match postbag. “Popovic has completely bottled it and ruined one of our best-ever chances at a historic run. That was an awful decision to bring on Ryan and why one of our first five takers was a teenage centre-back, I have no idea. As much as this hurts, some of these Socceroos will end up at big clubs and have big futures ahead of them. Time to bring in a proactive manager who can harness their talents effectively at the highest level. Oh well, back to my Football Manager save and goon sack. Saturdays ain’t so bad” – Chris Paraskevas
“Don’t understand this. We’ve got Toure and Hrustic, experienced forwards, and our two centre backs take the penalties? And why take off Beach, who would be very confident? In our last penalty shootout, we actually took Ryan off. Also think we got Irakunda and Toure back to front. Toure would have been better on from the start, using his strength, and Irakunda later, when his speed would have been a factor” – Burt Bosma
“As a Liverpool fan and an England supporter, I rather enjoyed Mo Salah’s ultra cheeky panenka to knock out the Aussies. But my heart bled a bit watching the eighteen-old Australian player miss his. Character-building I’m sure it will be for him though” – Colum Fordham
“As an Aussie, I’m happy to say that was a terrible watch” – Robert Speed
Mo Salah is in tears. Of course he’s in tears. One of the most emotional, heart-on-sleeve stars to ever strap on a pair of football boots, it warms the cockles to see him this happy. Still rheumy-eyed, he gives a pitchside interview: “It is history … I told the boys before the game, guys, this is the biggest game you could play in your life, so just enjoy it … don’t let the pressure get to you and not enjoy the moment … I am glad we managed to win the game … bad luck for [Australia], they lost penalties … if somebody would do [a Panenka penalty] it would be me … more experienced than others … I just wanted to give [the team] confidence [by taking a Panenka] … I decided last minute … I didn’t know if that was my last World Cup [moment] or not … but I had to do it!”
I had to do it! That’s right up there, isn’t it?
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Egypt cavort, Egypt dance, Egypt enjoy. They were far more clinical with the spot kicks; on balance, they were the more threatening over the 120 minutes of football. But the margins weren’t that big. Australia will be crushed, having once again failed to win a World Cup knockout game: that’s zero for three now. But Egypt have done it at last. At long last, because their previous chance was at the 1934 World Cup, when they were beaten by Hungary in the round of 16. A full 92 years later, they’re now going to be playing in a round of 16 again! Argentina or Cape Verde await.
RESULT: Australia 1-1 Egypt (Egypt win 4-2 on penalties)
Egypt have won a knockout match at the World Cup for the very first time! Heartbreak for the Socceroos.
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PENALTIES: Australia 2-4 Egypt. Abdelmaguid can win it for Egypt … and he whips the spot kick into the bottom left, Ryan having gone the wrong way. Egypt are through!
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PENALTIES: Australia 2-3 Egypt. Herrington, 18, with so much responsibility … and in aiming for the top right, he crashes the ball against the crossbar, up and away. Not as wild as Souttar’s, in fact so close … but so far.
PENALTIES: Australia 2-3 Egypt. Salah’s turn. His brow furrowed. Big pressure on the Egyptian King … and he sends a Power Panenka down the middle. That was ballsy.
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PENALTIES: Australia 2-2 Egypt. Mabil kisses the ball … a short run-up … and he rolls into the bottom right, Shobeir having been given the eyes. Much better than his late free kick, that’s for sure.
PENALTIES: Australia 1-2 Egypt. Rabia, whose header Beach saved at the end of the regulation 90, is up next for Egypt … and he sends Ryan the wrong way, rolling into the bottom left. Not tucked in the corner, but with the keeper gone, it didn’t need to be.
PENALTIES: Australia 1-1 Egypt. Irvine next for the Socceroos. He bites his moustachioed lip … then calmly flips his kick into the top right, having seen Shobeir go the other way.
PENALTIES: Australia 0-1 Egypt. That was a dreadful penalty. Can Saber, sent on at the very end to take a kick, do his job? Yep, he whips into the left side of the net, and though Ryan goes the correct way, the keeper’s got no chance.
PENALTIES: Australia 0-0 Egypt. Souttar up first. He opens his body up … and in looking for the top right, blazes a wild, wild penalty over the bar.
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Salah has won both tosses for Egypt. The shootout will take place in front of Egypt’s fans, while Salah sends in Australia to take the first one.
EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Australia 1-1 Egypt
… and so to penalties it goes. Australia will hope this Ryan/Beach switch has some Krul/Cillessen energy.
ET 30 min +2: The answer is almost no! The free kick’s swung into the box and the ball starts pinballing around. Ding, ding, ding! Off Circati, off Ibrahim, off Toure, and into the arms of Shobeir!
ET 30 min +1: Before the free kick can be taken, Saber comes on for Attia. More penalty prep? But will Egypt get there?
ET 30 min: Ibrahim slides in late on Toure. Unnecessary and clumsy, and it’s earned the Egypt centre-back a yellow card. What’s more, it’s another free kick for Australia on the left, in another dangerous position.
ET 29 min: Australia are preparing for penalties, because Beach, who kept his team in this tournament with that last-minute save from Rabia, is replaced by Ryan.
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ET 28 min: Mabil crashes a witless free kick straight into the wall. That was appalling. He earned the right to take it, I suppose, but dear me.
ET 27 min: … so having said that – Pulitzer, please! - Mabil is sent scampering into space down the inside-left channel, and just before he reaches the edge of the Egypt box, he’s clipped by Hany. A free kick coming up in a very dangerous position!
ET 26 min: … nothing occurs, despite Salah’s repeated prompting from the right. Australia are hanging on a bit here. Not by the fingernails, but hanging on.
ET 25 min: Now it’s Hassan’s turn to sashay in from the right. He’s about to shoot from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box when Herrington comes sliding in to block. But here’s another corner, from which …
ET 23 min: Salah jinks and jives his way in from the right, nearly making enough room to shoot in the box. Not quite enough, though, and so when he does take aim, his effort is easily blocked out for a corner. And nothing comes of the set piece.
ET 22 min: Ashour curls powerfully towards the top left. Souttar once again makes a last-ditch block. The big man’s been immense. Without him, Australia would already be out: Hassan’s shot at the very end of regulation play was heading in without him. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
ET 21 min: Two and three-pass moves at a premium right now.
ET 19 min: Attia shoots low and hard from distance. The ball catches Souttar on the heel and nearly wrong-foots Beach, who manages to adjust and claim without undue drama. That wouldn’t have taken much more of a nick off Souttar to put the keeper in all sorts.
ET 18 min: Circati shovels a pass down the right for Toure, who absolutely clanks a cross through the Egypt box. Hrustic had no chance of getting to that.
ET 17 min: Egypt still have two substitutions left; Australia just the one.
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Egypt get the second half of extra time underway. They’ve made a change, sending on Abdelkarim for Marmoush, who could have effectively put all of this to bed nine seconds after the start of the regulation second half. But here we all are.
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Australia 1-1 Egypt
We’ve seen better. We’ve seen better.
ET 15 min: Hrustic’s free kick is easily cleared.
ET 14 min: Behich comes in from the left flank and is hauled back by Hassan. A whole handful of shirt. The Egypt sub goes into the book.
ET 13 min: Ashour has a shy at goal from the best part of 30 yards. He sends his shot a similar distance wide left.
ET 11 min: Hassan drives down the right again. He cuts back for Hany, who looks for Salah down the same channel, but the connection isn’t there. One man overhits the pass, the other’s looking the wrong way, and it’s a goal kick.
ET 10 min: Hany crosses. Marmoush competes for a header in the middle but never looks like winning it.
ET 9 min: Hassan bursts dangerously down the right and reaches the byline … only to blooter the cross over everyone’s head. Still, he’s looked by far the most likely to make something happen since his arrival.
ET 8 min: The pace of this match has dropped considerably. Nobody wanting to make the big mistake in extra time.
ET 6 min: Irvine fluffs a clearing header straight to Trezeguet, who immediately miscontrols. It’s all a bit like that at the minute.
ET 4 min: Hassan has been excellent since coming on. He comes in from the right and pings a pass to Marmoush on the penalty spot. Marmoush cushions into the path of Salah, who blazes over from 12 yards. Big chance. Salah now at least a visible presence again, though.
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ET 2 min: … but nothing else comes from the award of the fairly obvious free kick.
ET 1 min: Trezeguet skittles Trewin, and one of Egypt’s backroom staff is booked for protesting the award of a fairly obvious free kick.
Australia get the first half of extra time underway. They’ve made a double change, sending on Mabil and Okon-Engstler for O’Neill and Metcalfe.
Full-time postbag. “That Patrick Beach save just saved our World Cup campaign and prolonged sleep paralysis for Australians all over the country. I’m not too sure my heart can take much more of this, so it’s time for some ‘meditation’ to get my BPM down: Caramelo Koalas, a black coffee and durries - the breakfast of champions” – Chris Paraskevas
“Having watched my share of boring matches featuring an overly cautious Egyptian team, I have to commend Hossam Hassan for making an attacking substitution. One good feature of this World Cup has been a reluctance by coaches, with a couple of exceptions, to play for a nil-nil from the first minute. Its too early to call yet, but this is a good World Cup so far” – Kári Tulinius
“Since you’re clearly familiar with the Scottish vernacular, you’ll understand if I describe your ‘no guid’ effort as a ‘pun of mince’ – Stephen McCrossan
FULL TIME: Australia 1-1 Egypt
To extra time we go! And possibly penalty kicks, who knows?
90 min +5: Salah goes again, this time down the right. He dribbles into the box and cuts back for Hassan, whose snapshot is blocked by Souttar. And that should be that.
90 min +4: The resulting corner sees Salah take a speculative shot from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. That’s easy for Beach this time, but Salah has done more in the last 60 seconds than he has in the entire match. And he very nearly won the game for Egypt!
90 min +3: Toure’s careless backpass flies out for an Egypt corner. The set piece is worked back to Salah on the right. Salah delivers a peach of a cross, Rabia steering a header towards the top left from close range. But Beach makes an exceptional reaction save to tip over the bar!
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90 min +1: … and then the corner, worked long to Hassan on the right. Hassan sends the ball back to the far stick. Abdelmaguid tries a bicycle kick. He swishes thin air. To borrow some Scots vernacular: Abdelmaguid no guid.
90 min: Ashour chips down the left in an attempt to release Trezeguet. The ambition is enough to earn a corner. Before it’s taken, the announcement of five additional minutes is made. Whoops of anticipation.
88 min: Trewin works down the right and wins a corner. It’s swung in to the near post. Irvine flicks it on, but Souttar, instead of diverting it goalwards, six yards out, heads the ball straight down to the floor. Egypt clear.
86 min: Hassan causes quite a bit of bother down the right. First he sends Hany into space, only for the cross to be half-cleared; then he swings a cross in himself, and Beach is required to steam off his line and punch powerfully clear from the middle of a meleé.
84 min: Egypt get some much-needed time on the ball. Australia kind of let them have it. The match falls flat.
82 min: O’Neill sends another free kick in from the left. That leads to some extremely scrappy bedlam in the Egypt box. Finally Souttar clatters into Rabia, in the process of sending a header miles over the bar. Egypt aren’t happy, and Ashour has his say … while momentarily covering his mouth. He’ll want to watch that sort of carry-on. The referee politely ignores it.
80 min: Hafez’s race is indeed run, and he’s replaced by Trezeguet. That’s an attacking substitution. Egypt certainly need something, because they’ve done nothing up front in this second half, and Australia are slowly getting on top.
79 min: Hafez might have pulled something in stretching for that block. Down he goes, and Rabia performs the international hand-jive mime for substitution. And next the mashed potato, the Watusi …
77 min: Hrustic cuts in from the right only for his low curler to be blocked by Hafez. This game is getting a wee bit attritional.
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76 min: Toure very nearly spins Ibrahim down the left. Then Behich tries to get the better of Hany, but there’s no way past. Australia doing their best to change the vibes momentum again.
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74 min: Australia make a double change of their own, replacing Irankunda and Volpato with Hrustic and Toure.
73 min: Egypt have been a bit more front-foot since the hydration break. Albeit to little effect so far.
71 min: The game restarts. “Moving the England game is match fixing at its best,” argues Richard. “From a civilised midday in New Zealand to an inconvenient 6.00 am. Completely changes the meaning of hydration break.”
68 min: … and that’s drinks. And snacks! It’s either a meat pie and ketchup, or koshari (a blend of rice, lentils, macaroni, beans and onions). But who’s offering what? No lazy national stereotyping, this is the Guardian after all.
67 min: Abdelmaguid and Hassan come on for Zico and Fathy.
66 min: Hany looks livelier as he battles his way down the right, trying to win a corner but eventually failing to even get a throw. Egypt haven’t done much since the Marmoush miss.
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64 min: Replays of the equaliser show Hany almost planting a header into the top right, never mind the ball skimming off the top of his head. “Are we absolutely certain Hany didn’t think he was scoring at the other end?” wonders James Humphries. “Feels like Egypt have got karma’d there. My dim recollection of what passed for CTE protocols when I played schools rugby is that you don’t need to get knocked out to be concussed, but if you’ve been knocked out you have definitely been concussed. Surely Hany should have been off after that?”
62 min: Salah is caught offside while scuttling after a pass down the right. Difficult to know whether that hamstring is holding up well or not; he’s not done very much.
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60 min: The ball’s sent into the mixer, and it bobbles around for a while, but nothing drops for Australia. All very scrappy. “So, we need mandatory hydration breaks for player safety, but a player gets knocked out cold and is back on the pitch within moments?” wonders Jonathan Francis. “I’d ask what Fifa are thinking, but we all know the answer.”
59 min: Irankunda prepares to tear off down the left only to be clipped by Ibrahim, who are taking no prisoners today. Another chance to send a free kick into the box and test this patched-together Egypt defence.
57 min: Much will be made of whether Hany should still be on the pitch or not. He wanders away looking confused again, albeit on this occasion in the time-honoured fashion of a man who’s just scored his second own goal of the tournament.
GOAL! Australia 1-1 Egypt (Hany 55 og)
O’Neill swings the free kick into the box, Souttar rises highest, six yards out … but is beaten to the ball by Hany, the ball skimming off his head and into the top right! Shobeir unable to react!
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54 min: O’Neill drops a shoulder to get past Zico on the Australian left. He goes over. There’s not much contact, but the ref’s bought it, and O’Neill will send the free kick into the mixer himself.
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52 min: Amazingly – or inexplicably, depending on your viewpoint – Hany is given the go-ahead to continue. That’s quite the turnaround.
51 min: Elsewhere … but we can still keep the session going until 5am, yes Keir?
49 min: … but amazingly, within a minute, Hany is back up on his feet! And he wants to continue. But he went out like a light momentarily, and surely won’t be allowed to go on? A discussion on the sideline as the game restarts.
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48 min: In going for that header, Metcalfe’s shoulder accidentally caught Hany, coming in behind. Hany falls, spark out cold, and on come the physios.
47 min: … then up the other end, there’s some head tennis in the Egypt box, and Metcalfe clanks a header wide left! Somewhere in a parallel universe, it’s 2-1. But here we are.
46 min: That would have been quite the miserable introduction for Trewin, who has been sent on for the stricken Bos.
Egypt get the second half started … and within nine seconds, Marmoush gets in ahead of Trewin down the middle, and should score! But he whips a low shot inches wide of the right-hand post! A big miss and a huge let-off for Australia!
We’ve just seen some footage of poor Bos, who was caught heavily by Rabia right at the end of the first half, being helped down the tunnel. His left leg is dangling in the air, he can’t put any weight on it, and he’s not holding it at a natural angle. I’d be very surprised if he continues. Rabia certainly crunched him, but he got the ball milliseconds before the man, and that’s exactly when Bos’s boot landed on terra firma. On the BBC, Scott Brown, who knows a thing or two about going in hard but fair, argues that it was a good tackle. Australia fans will understandably demur.
Half-time postbag. “That first half performance was nowhere near good enough and doesn’t suit my pre-tournament prediction/expectation of the Socceroos winning the World Cup and validating all of my life choices. Popovic has to make changes for the good of the nation and my personal narrative: Toure on for Irvine, Hrustic on to sort set-pieces, Mabil on for ... ah, forget about it, I’m just going to fire up Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on the Playstation 2” – Chris Paraskevas
“While much was made of Africa placing nine out of ten teams into the knockout stage, even an unlikely sweep of today’s three matches would see more than half crash out. As it is, Egypt is the bookmaker’s best chance of the day to avoid the worst-case scenario of finishing 1-8. While there were some admirable efforts by DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, it does appear depth is their Achilles heel upon moving up to the next level” – Pete Mumola
“If Egypt thinks they’ve already won the game they’re in de-Nile” – Steve Tonks
“Knocking out Egypt might not be as easy as everybody Sphinx” – Peter Oh
“Presumably once the sea levels rise again, the pyramids will be the Pharaoh Isles” – James Humphries (and yes we have upgraded our Pun Platter to Taste the Finest)
“TV just showed the Momentum graphic. I was always taught in science classes that we had to indicate our units on any graph. What is the unit or measure of football momentum?” – William Walters
Vibes?
HALF TIME: Australia 0-1 Egypt
There’s no time to restart after the argument, and everyone goes down the tunnel for their half-time oranges … apart from Bos, who might have planted his studs in the turf and twisted his knee. He’s still getting treatment on the pitch. More on that when it becomes clearer.
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45 min +5: Bos goes down, having been tackled by Rabia then caught on the follow through. No foul, though. He’s not happy, Irvine isn’t happy either. A lot of discussion.
45 min +3: Irankunda competes for a cross swung into the Egypt box from the left. He’s gently nudged from behind by Hafez. Some half-hearted shouts for a penalty, but come on.
45 min +2: Volpato curls wide left from long distance. Shobeir has it covered.
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45 min +1: The first of five additional first-half minutes. Marmoush drops deep and wedges a pass down the inside-left channel. Salah, breaking into the box but facing the wrong way, tries to swivel and cushion a header into the path of Zico, but can’t quite manage it. A decent effort, though.
45 min: Marmoush tries to send Salah scampering into big space down the middle. In days gone by, Salah would have got to the ball and zipped away … but they’re long gone now. Australia clear.
43 min: Irakunda falls into the back of Ibrahim and manages to catch him on the ankle and back-heel him up the seat of his pants at the same time. That move has an Olympic difficulty tariff of 5.8.
41 min: Just as he did for the goal, Salah declines to send the free kick in direct, but changes the angle, pulling back for Zico, who curls into the Australia box. O’Neill heads clear.
40 min: Bos hangs out an arm and slaps Ashour in the mouth. All of that sounds more aggressive than it was – it seemed accidental – but it was a bit careless and so the referee awards a free kick, which Salah prepares send in from the right.
38 min: Bos runs hard down the right and wins a corner. It’s hit long by Volpato, but Circati can’t get a header away at the far stick.
37 min: Circati goes long down the right. Irankunda tries to spin Ibrahim, who heads back to his keeper … but only just. Irankunda nearly nipping in. He’d have been clear in the box had he executed better.
35 min: Circati sends another long throw in from the right. Irankunda lays the ball back to Behich, who has a whack from the left-hand edge of the D. Another easy one for Shobeir.
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34 min: … and to tie up all the loose ends from that little episode, Hany trots back on and rejoins the action.
33 min: The free kick’s sent into the mixer and Bos swishes a weak effort straight at Shobeir, who claims. Then the whistle goes for a free kick anyway …
32 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Hany needs some attention, having been accidentally caught by Irankunda when the Australian was in the process of being fouled! A bit of a farce on one level, but a sore one for Hany, who has to go off for treatment.
31 min: Irankunda tries to play the ball around Ibrahim and into space down the inside-left channel. He’s caught by Ibrahim, and that could be a yellow card … but isn’t … though it is a free kick.
29 min: There’s not a whole lot going on. Egypt seem quite happy to sit back and let Australia, who haven’t scored since their opening match, huff and puff. “So infuriating that we can’t take even a half-decent corner,” sighs Matt Leonard. “Not one set piece has got anywhere near big Harry’s eyebrows all tournament.”
27 min: The game restarts. “For the people of the world who are suffering from middle-of-the-night start times, I feel for you,” begins USA resident Mary Waltz. “But for the last 12 years I have been getting up at 4am every weekend to watch Premier League football. And most of the World Cups have required vampire hours to watch live.”
25 min: No snacks yet, you’ll get those in the second half. But would you like a pun?
[MBM proffers silver dish]
“That Pharaoh joke made me Tut. Giza break” – Colin Livingstone
“That was an Ashour-ed finish” – Peter Oh
[MBM withdraws dish]
No, sorry, we didn’t stump up for the premium platter.
23 min: Behich works his way down the left and earns Australia a corner. The set piece is sent deep, and headed harmlessly wide right by Herrington … and that’s drinks. It’s either some cans of Victoria Bitter and a “goon bag” of chardonnay, or tea, coffee and fresh juices. But who’s offering what? No lazy national stereotyping, this is the Guardian after all.
21 min: Fathy wedges a pass down the inside-right and suddenly Zico is free! He reaches the edge of the box before sending a low drive inches wide of the bottom left. The flag goes up for offside, but that looked close, and VAR would at least have taken a look had Zico’s shot gone in.
19 min: Bos battles his way down the right and looks to have won a corner off Rabia, but the linesman and referee get it wrong and award a goal kick to Egypt. Nothing much coming off for Australia since that Volpato shot off the crossbar.
17 min: Attia, quarterbacking from deep, sends a long ball down the inside-left channel for Marmoush, who takes it down elegantly before entering the box and looking for the top right. Souttar blocks. Dak Prescott would have been proud of that Attia slingshot.
15 min: Australia look to bounce back immediately, Circati throwing long into the Egyptian box from the right. The ball makes its way through to O’Neill, who comes in from the left and bobbles a low diagonal shot wide right.
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GOAL! Australia 0-1 Egypt (Ashour 13)
Salah taps the free kick to his right for Ashour, who has a bash from a tight-ish angle. That’s blocked, but the ball breaks to Hafez on the right-hand corner of the box. Hafez curls back to the far stick, and Ashour, in acres of space, plants a downward header into the left-hand portion of the net! Lovely assist and a calm finish.
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12 min: Zico hovers to the left of the Australia box, and is cleaned out unceremoniously by Irvine. A free kick coming up in a very dangerous position. Salah to take. Everyone piles into the Aussie area.
11 min: Rabia sends a backpass to Shobeir, who lets the ball run under his foot and is forced to spin around and hook off his own goalline, under pressure from Irankunda. Nearly a farcical error by the keeper, though the backpass wasn’t great and didn’t do him any favours.
9 min: Salah gets his first meaningful touch of the ball, and tries to find Marmoush in the Australia box with a wedged pass down the right channel. But he can’t beat the first defender.
7 min: Nothing comes of the corner. That was such a crucial intervention by Rabia. Without it, Bos was surely putting Australia ahead. The Socceroos look like they plan to get after this much-changed and patched-together Egypt defence.
6 min: Well, after a very quiet start, that Volpato effort has snapped Australia into focus. And now Bos barrels down the same inside-right channel, entering the box and preparing to shoot … but as he cocks his leg back, Rabia sticks out a toe to divert out for a corner.
5 min: Volpato turns into space down the inside-right channel. He’s afforded too much time. From 25 yards, he takes aim for the top left, and sends a looping shot off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick. Shobeir wasn’t getting to it had it been on target.
4 min: Attia sends a long pass down the right, hoping to find Ashour. Souttar comes across to unpretentiously bash the ball into touch. Then Australia try the long ball, down the left, but Shobeir comes out of his area to hack clear ahead of Irankunda.
2 min: A fairly scrappy, nondescript start. Players happy enough to get a first nerve-calming touch of the ball.
Australia get the ball rolling. The roof is keeping that noise in all right! “Yes, just the 4am kick-off here in Sydney … but there will be a pharaoh-ld celebration should Australia beat Egypt and koala-fy for the next round.” Sean Boiling, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week morning. With that sort of patter, isn’t that enough?
The teams are out! Australia in gold and green, Egypt in red. The anthems, both glorious, all about fair advancement and beloved homelands. Who could argue with those sentiments? A rare old atmosphere at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Pre-match postbag (totally solely penned by Chris Paraskevas).
The last few days have been a strange mix of emotions, led largely by bouts of stomach cramps out of nervousness and anticipation, but mitigated by the realisation that this World Cup has completely re-contextualised the phrase “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Far from bobbling aimlessly between Fifa x White Castle hydration breaks like some broken, forgotten buoy, the steady procession of 140 quarters of football per day has given me a sense of direction and purpose: no romance to distract me; no ‘Are you going to watch the football all day again?’ looks of disapproval; just pure, uninterrupted freedom to enjoy the World Cup as a middle-aged man(child).
That’s why I’m feeling nothing but white-hot anticipation for this tie. There’s no need to be afraid: this World Cup is almost the stuff Socceroos dreams are made of, with friendly time zones, favourable draws and clean sheets abound.
Popovic and his players might as well cast off the shackles at some point tonight, because there’s nothing to lose and everything to win. Be positive, don’t hesitate and when the opportunity comes, make sure you are as clinical as I was when I purchased and built my Lionel Messi Celebration Lego (suggested age range: 14-18 years old).
GO THE ̶
M̶I̶D̶L̶I̶F̶E̶ ̶C̶R̶I̶S̶I̶S̶SOCCEROOS!
A message to all Australian fans who have got up early / talked the whole night through. And to think England fans are moaning about the 1am shift they’ll have to put in on Monday. Some people don’t know they’re born.
A peek inside the Australian dressing room. Yes, someone’s been giving those Ted Lasso blu-rays a good old spin, haven’t they.
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If Mo Salah scores tonight, he’ll tie his coach Hossam Hassan’s Egyptian record of 69 international goals. The 34-year-old team captain has appeared in 119 appearances for the Pharaohs; Hassan reached his total after 177 caps. And while we’re on the subject of the Egypt coach, here’s a must-read piece on his close ties with the country’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the military general whose “security apparatus has infiltrated every aspect of civilian life” … including football.
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Team news: Socceroos unchanged; Salah starts
For Australia it’s simple. Coach Tony Popovic names the same starting XI as he did against Paraguay. Nestory Irankunda continues to lead the attack, while Jordan Bos remains as right wing-back.
Egypt make five changes from the team that started the 1-1 draw with Iran … though their top line is that Mo Salah has made it, despite hamstring concerns. He’ll be joined up front by Omar Marmoush, with defenders Yasser Ibrahim and Karim Hafez, and midfielders Hamdy Fathy and Marwan Attia also coming into the team. Trézéguet and Mahmoud Saber drop to the bench, while Mohamed Abdelmonem and Ahmed Fatouh are injured, and Mohanad Lasheen is suspended.
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The teams
Australia: Beach, Circati, Souttar, Herrington, Bos, O’Neill, Irvine, Behich, Volpato, Metcalfe, Irankunda.
Subs: Ryan, Izzo, Degenek, Geria, Toure, Hrustic, Mabil, Devlin, Trewin, Burgess, Velupillay, Okon-Engstler, Yengi.
Egypt: Shobeir, Hany, Rabia, Ibrahim, Hafez, Fathy, Attia, Ashour, Salah, Ziko, Marmoush.
Subs: El Shenawy, Soliman, Mohamed Alaa, Abdelmaguid, Trezeguet, Abdelkarim, Hassan, Emad, Adel, Saber, Tarek Alaa, Zizo.
Referee: Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)
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… all of which brings us to this afternoon’s showdown. It’s the first competitive meeting between the two countries, though Egypt did win a Cairo friendly 3-0 back in 2010. (On the scoresheet for Egypt that day: Gedo, who earlier in the year had scored the winning goal in the Africa Cup of Nations final, and Mohamed Zidan, who had provided the assist. But we digress.)
… and here’s how Egypt got out of Group G. Undefeated, though they really rode their luck towards the end against Iran.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | Egypt | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Iran | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 3 | -6 | 1 |
Here’s how Australia made it through Group D. The hard yards covered in their first game against one of the pre-tournament hipster picks.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Paraguay | 3 | -2 | 4 |
| 4 | Turkey | 3 | -2 | 3 |
This is how we saw things from the outset. Reacquaint yourself with today’s cast and crew.
Preamble
Australia have made it out of the group stage at the World Cup twice before. On both occasions, in 2006 and 2022, they lost their first knockout game to the eventual champions, respectively Italy and Argentina. That historical quirk will almost certainly be consigned to the dustbin this year, because either the Socceroos will win a knockout game for the first time ever, or if they lose again … well, you can get 500-1 on the Pharaohs going all the way, so best of luck with that.
Australia didn’t exactly wow the world in getting through Group D. A 2-0 win over false-starting Turkey, a 2-0 loss against the USA, and a goalless draw with Paraguay. But they made it anyway. By contrast, while this isn’t the greatest iteration of Egypt either, the seven-time champions of Africa do have Mo Salah primed for one last hurrah, and qualifying for the knockouts for the first time in four attempts has got them buzzing in a way the Socceroos are not.
Still, on balance, it’s too close to call. One of these countries will make history today by winning their first-ever World Cup knockout match, after which they’ll most probably be playing the reigning champs Argentina in the last 16. A hell of a big prize is on offer, so may the best side win. Kick-off is at 1pm local/2pm EDT/7pm BST/4am AEST. It’s on!
