Australia is the only remaining team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and to keep its surprising World Cup run alive, it must get past Egypt.
The Socceroos has exceeded expectations, beating Türkiye 2-0 and drawing with Paraguay to reach the knockout stage. It has not offered much attacking threat, posting one of the lowest xG totals (1.99) among the remaining teams, but have made up for it with grit, applying 856 defensive pressures and committing 34 fouls.
Egypt, however, presents a much tougher test. Unbeaten so far, it has produced a far stronger attacking output with 3.76 xG, averages 47% possession to Australia’s 37%, and plays with real purpose in the final third, recording 72 defensive line breaks and 23 switched long balls—both among the tournament’s highest totals.
Expect Egypt to do most of the attacking, while Australia looks to frustrate and dig in defensively.
