Overview
Mohamed Salah still leaves open the possibility of playing in the match between Egypt and Australia in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup at Dallas after suffering a hamstring injury.
The 34-year-old striker had to leave the field in the second half of the 1-1 draw with Iran in the last group stage match. Egyptian national team doctor Mohamed Abou El-Ela confirmed that Salah had a hamstring strain and is currently focusing on recovery.
If Salah cannot play, this will be a huge loss for Egypt. In the group stage, Salah created 11 chances for his teammates, only behind Leandro Trossard of Belgium (13 chances).
Salah also scored in the 3-1 victory over New Zealand, helping Egypt get their first victory at the 2026 World Cup. However, the draw with Iran and Belgium's 5-1 defeat to New Zealand caused Egypt to finish in second place in Group G due to inferior goal difference.
However, the African representative still closed the group stage with a 3-match unbeaten streak - the best achievement in their World Cup history - and scored 5 goals, equal to their total number of goals scored in the previous 7 World Cup matches.
However, Egypt will face a significant challenge against Australia's solid defense. The average expected goal value (xG) per shot they face in the group stage is only 0.052 (2.68 xG from 47 shots), only higher than Spain (0.039).
Australia won second place in Group D after a 2-0 victory over Turkey in the opening match, but the next 2 matches were not really convincing when they lost to the USA 0-2 and drew with Paraguay 0-0.
Among the teams in the top two in each group, only Croatia (24 shots) has fewer shots than Australia (26). They also have the lowest xG index with 2.1.
In the last 2 matches of the group stage, Australia did not score any goals and only launched 17 shots with a total xG of only 0.9. Since their first participation in the World Cup in 1974, this is the first time they have experienced a series of 2 consecutive matches without scoring in the finals.
In terms of force, Egypt is almost certain not to have the service of Ahmed Fatouh due to a thigh muscle injury, while Mohamed Abdelmonem still leaves open the possibility of playing due to an ankle problem.
On the Australian side, full-back Jacob Italiano and experienced midfielder Mathew Leckie are both absent due to injury. Coach Tony Popovic is likely to continue using Aziz Behich and Jordan Bos on both wing corridors.
Head-to-head record
Australia and Egypt have only met twice at the national team level.
In their first encounter in 1987, the two teams drew 0-0 before Australia won 4-3 in a penalty shootout. In a friendly match in 2010, Egypt won convincingly 3-0 to equalize their head-to-head record.
Notably, 5 players in the current Australian squad including Kye Rowles, Harry Souttar, Riley McGree, Connor Metcalfe and Cameron Devlin all participated in the Australian Olympic team squad that lost to Egypt 0-2 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, thereby being eliminated from the tournament.
Score prediction: Australia 0-1 Egypt
The match between Australia and Egypt takes place at 1:00 AM on July 4th (Vietnam time).
