Egypt draw Belgium 1–1, first World Cup win still waiting

Your team led, then an own goal undid it all

Egypt 1–1 Belgium in the Group G opener in Seattle. Emam Ashour put the Pharaohs ahead in the 19th minute (3) (4) (6). The lead held for most of the match, and Egypt were 20 minutes from a first ever World Cup win, that record still stands. Belgium equalised through a Mohamed Hany own goal in the 66th minute after Romelu Lukaku came off the bench and changed the game inside 23 seconds (1) (5) (8). The German press described it as a wild back-and-forth where Egypt "were really strong" but could not close it out (6). Mohamed Salah started for Egypt; Jeremy Doku and Omar Marmoush both featured for their sides (12).

Raskin turned the midfield, Rangers fans noticed

Belgium's Nicolas Raskin came off the bench and Rangers supporters watching at home saw a completely different Belgian midfield. "Nico Raskin has come on for Belgium and completely changed the whole game for them. They look 100x better with him in that midfield," fan Adam Dunn posted after the match (10). Raskin replaced Amadou Onana and brought the control Belgium had been missing (10).

Barcelona's Egyptian forward made World Cup history

Egypt fielded their youngest ever World Cup player against Belgium. The Barcelona forward, profiled by Marca as "Egypt's new prince," has been tracked closely by the Spanish press: "I have followed all his matches at Barcelona" one report noted (13). His introduction adds another dimension to an Egypt attack that already troubled Belgium's backline.

Fan-reaktioner

The mood in the Reddit threads was a mix of pride and frustration. Egypt fans celebrated Ashour's goal and the team's aggressive approach, but the own goal hit hard. Manager Hossam Hassan grabbing the fourth official to demonstrate a foul on Zizo became a talking point of its own, and Jeremy Doku going down easily earned him a Fallon d'Floor nomination in the match thread.