Belgium Vs Egypt Live Score Updates, FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Today Belgium Vs Egypt Football Match Scorecard & Commentary:
European heavyweights Belgium take on African powerhouse Egypt in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G opener in Seattle Stadium in USA on Tuesday.
Belgium’s much-hyped golden generation never delivered a major international title and is now giving way to a reshaped squad that could arrive at the next World Cup as dark horses.
The team for the tournament in NA still includes key figures from the side that topped FIFA’s year-end rankings four times between 2018 and 2021 and reached the Russia 2018 semi-finals. Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Axel Witsel are all set for a fourth successive World Cup, though Belgium’s prospects now depend more on a younger core.
Courtois and De Bruyne remain automatic selections, while Lukaku, hampered by injuries, has been picked in the hope he regains fitness, and Witsel has been recalled mainly for experienced cover. Greater focus falls on players such as Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans, who has replaced De Bruyne as captain, and Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku, whose dribbling and growing influence have made him a match-winner. They form the backbone of a team seeking its own identity.
After a group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup and a flat Euro 2024 campaign that ended in the last 16, Belgium dropped to ninth in the world rankings. With former stalwarts Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany and Jan Vertonghen retired, expectations have eased. That reduced pressure may suit a squad now coached by Frenchman Rudi Garcia, appointed at the start of 2025.
Hossam Hassan, Egypt’s all-time leading scorer who secured qualification for the 1990 World Cup as a player, has now led the team back to the finals as head coach. However, with Africa now having almost twice as many World Cup places as in 2022, reaching the tournament is viewed as a starting point rather than a major achievement. Hassan is expected to deliver Egypt’s first World Cup win and avoid a repeat of their first-round exits in 1934, 1990 and 2018, despite the country’s record seven Africa Cup of Nations titles.
Mohamed Salah, now 33 and coming off an underwhelming final season with Liverpool, is no longer at his peak but remains the team’s main attacking threat and is two goals short of Hassan’s national scoring record. Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush is also key, with the two Premier League players carrying much of the attacking responsibility in a largely home-based squad.
Hassan has made a bold decision by calling up 18-year-old striker Hamza Abdelkarim, on loan at Barcelona’s U19 side, while leaving out Nantes forward Mostafa Mohamed.
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