BBC News, Arabic Go to content Main Watch Listen Main Sections News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts World Cup 2026 Investigations News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts World Cup 2026 Investigations After a historic qualification, Egypt sets a date with Argentina in the Round of 16 Image credit, Getty Images
For the first time in its history, Egypt reached the Round of 16 of the World Cup, after defeating Australia on penalties 4-2 (1-1) on Friday in Dallas, setting up a date with defending champion Argentina, who narrowly escaped the upset from surprise team Cape Verde, winning 3-2 after extra time.
The "Pharaohs" erupted in joy after Hossam Abdul-Majid scored the fourth penalty kick, triggering celebrations among players and fans in the stands in Arlington with 80,000 spectators in attendance, marking another success for the "Pharaohs".
This World Cup is their most successful in four participations (after 1934, 1990, and 2018), after they secured their first win against New Zealand (3-1) in the group stage and qualified for the knockout rounds for the first time.
Egypt became the fifth African nation to qualify from the knockout stage, after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), Ghana (2010), and Morocco (2022 and 2026).
With cold nerves, star Mohamed Salah executed a Panenka-style chip to give his country a 3-2 lead.
The forward, who ended this season with a remarkable career at Liverpool, said, "If anyone would do it, it would be me! I am more experienced than others, and I wanted to give them confidence. I made the decision at the last moment, and I had to do it."
Salah added: "This is history. I told the players before the match that this is the biggest stage they could play on. Enjoy it and don’t let the pressure affect you."
Egypt took the lead through a beautiful header from Imam Ashour after a cross from Karim Hafez (13).
However, the "Socceroos" equalized with the start of the second half with an own goal from Mohamed Hani, who had sustained a head injury moments before, scoring his second own goal in this tournament after the equalizer against Belgium (55).
Egypt almost sealed the win in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Salah delivered a cross that Rami Rabia headed towards the goal, but goalkeeper Patrick Beach skillfully denied it.
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In Miami, Cape Verde's team ended their story in this tournament with a heroic performance and came close to eliminating the defending champions, but Argentina, led by their legend Lionel Messi, achieved a difficult 3-2 victory after extra time.
The national team of this archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of only half a million, became a story receiving accolades after defying expectations by drawing with Spain, the European champion, before securing a ticket to advance in Group H ahead of twice world champion Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni said that losing to Cape Verde "would have been madness."
Scaloni added: "It was a very difficult match, we must always hold on to the positives, this team (Argentina) never gives up."
He continued: "We must congratulate the opponent, for when people say there are no easy competitors, they proved today that they are a great team."
Argentina hopes to become the first team since 1962 to retain its world title.
After Messi opened the scoring with his seventh goal in the current tournament, taking the lead in the scoring chart and raising his historic record to 20 goals in the World Cup (29), Deroy Duarte equalized the score (59).
Lisandro Martinez restored the lead for coach Lionel Scaloni's team after the start of the first extra half (92), but the African team equalized again through Sidney Cabral (103), but from a precise pass from Messi following a corner kick, the Argentinians seized the victory after the ball rebounded from Deni Borges’ arm following a header from defender Cristian Romero (111).
Messi (39 years old), the world’s best player eight times, became the first player in World Cup history to score seven goals or more in two World Cup editions (2002 and 2026).
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