FIFA World Cup: Belgium rescue draw as Egypt’s historic win slips away

Egypt’s dreams were shattered in the Group G game of the FIFA World Cup with Belgium drawing 1-1 with them in Seattle thanks to an own goal by Mohamed Hany, robbing Egypt of the historic first ever World Cup win in their history.

The North African team appeared to be heading for a historic victory after putting up a commendable show against the strong Europeans. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, they ended up splitting the spoils in the last few minutes of the second half of the game.

With a strong following of fans backing them in the United States west coast, Egypt seemed well on their way to winning their first ever victory in the World Cup. They remained winless in the competition after their debut back in 1934.

Unfortunately for Egypt, Belgium drew level in the 66th minute with an own goal when the former’s Thomas Meunier’s pass was diverted into the latter’s goal by Mohamed Hany under pressure from the former’s substitute Romelu Lukaku.

The equalizer was scored shortly after Lukaku entered the pitch, as his appearance unsettled the Egyptian defense, prompting Hany to commit a mistake.

The Egyptian skipper Mohamed Salah nearly got his team back on top, but a wonderful save from Thibaut Courtois thwarted his attempt at heading past the Belgium goalkeeper, while Ashour could not capitalize on the rebound.

In the latter stages, Belgium began to dominate the game, with Kevin De Bruyne narrowly missing the goal from a free-kick that struck the post.

Egypt defended strongly, thus sealing the draw – their third in the tournament – but were disappointed in their near-miss from an historic win.