Australia-Egypt: Why history beckons in their momentous World Cup clash

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Matthew Judge | Editor

History is on the line as Australia and Egypt prepare to lock horns in a momentous clash in the World Cup knockout phase.

The two nations will face off at the Dallas Stadium in the United States on Friday, 3 July after sealing their places in the round of 32.

Australia reached the World Cup knockouts for the third time in their history after collecting four points in Group D.

Goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe saw Australia down Turkey 2-0 in their opening fixture, before Tony Popovic’s men bounced back from their 2-0 loss to co-hosts USA by drawing 0-0 with Paraguay.

Egypt meanwhile are through to the knockout stage for the first time after earning an impressive five points in Group G.

Captain Mohamed Salah led from the front by scoring and assisting in the Pharaohs’ 3-1 win over New Zealand - a victory which came either side of two 1-1 draws with Belgium and Iran.

And so the stage is set as two in-form countries prepare to go head-to-head in the battle to achieve history in North America next week.

Australia looking to make history in knockouts

While Australia are through to the knockout phase for the third time in their history, the Socceroos have never actually won a World Cup game outside of the group phase.

Australia reached the knockouts for the first time in 2006, where they lost 1-0 to eventual champions and 10-man Italy thanks to an injury time penalty from Francesco Totti.

They also reached the knockouts in 2022, where they again lost to the eventual winners of the tournament, Argentina, after Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez earned their side a 2-1 win.

And so while Australia will not be taking Egypt lightly, at the same time they know Friday’s match represents their best-ever chance of winning a World Cup knockout game.

Egypt also stand on the brink of maiden knockout win

Egypt’s players are already history-makers after not only reaching the knockouts via the group stage for the first time, but for also winning their maiden World Cup match with victory over New Zealand.

Heading into this summer’s tournament, the African side had previously never won a match at FIFA’s flagship tournament, having come up short in 1934, 1990 and 2018.

While Egypt did compete in the round of 16 in 1934, that edition of the World Cup did not feature a group stage as they lost 4-2 to Hungary, with Abdel Fawzy scoring twice for the Pharaohs.

Egypt returned to the World Cup stage after a 56-year absence in 1990, finishing bottom of Group F after losing 1-0 to England while earning 1-1 draws with the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland.

They were also participants in the 2018 tournament but Salah and co. finished bottom of Group A after recording three successive defeats to Uruguay, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

However, like Australia, Egypt will fancy their chances of reaching the last 16 of this year’s World Cup, especially after putting together an unbeaten group campaign.

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