Egypt is not at the 2026 FIFA World Cup to make up the numbers and showed its potential and good players in Monday’s 1-1 draw against Belgium, coach Hossam Hassan said, after the country came agonizingly close to its dream of a first victory in the showpiece.
The Pharaohs took the lead with a brilliant 20th-minute strike from Emam Ashour and were a handful for the Belgians, who leveled in the 66th minute when record scorer Romelu Lukaku forced an own goal from Mohamed Hany just over 20 seconds after entering the match.
«I’m not the one to talk about Egypt’s status. The players are top quality and we have two of the best players in the world with us. They give us motivation,» he said of captain Mohamed Salah and striker Omar Marmoush.
«We are certainly not here just to make up the numbers. The victory was in our hands today,» he added.
Egypt is in its fourth World Cup and is chasing its best performance ever. The season got off to an impressive start in Seattle, registering fourteen attempts on goal and coming up against one of the top-ranked teams.
«This was our priority, our main focus. We didn’t think about anything else. But the draw is actually a win – a draw against such a rival, a big rival. They have big, big players,» Hassan said.
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Hassan defended his decision to replace captain and goal machine Salah when the scores were level and praised him and Marmoush for what he called excellent performances.
«We don’t rely on a single player, but on a collective 26. Salah, Marmoush, they gave everything; they really gave everything with their ferocious transitions,» he said.
Egypt’s best performance at the World Cup came in 1990, when the country came away with two draws and one defeat, with coach Hassan himself in the team.
Egypt’s participation in this World Cup went beyond the tournament, he said, and was part of a drive to reinvent the national team and make it believe it can be a contender in world football.
“We are 120 million people in Egypt, so of course we need a strong team, of course we have ambition, of course we have to represent all these people,” he said.
“I told them that we need to have a new national identity for our national team… we are trying to work on the players’ mentality, prepare our players and build their confidence that they are a strong team,” he added.
Egypt will face New Zealand and Iran in the remaining matches in Group G.
Published on June 16, 2026
