Belgium opened their 2026 World Cup campaign against Egypt, arguably their toughest opponent in the Group Stages. An entertaining game between the two nations finished all square, a result that shouldn’t stop Belgium from qualifying for the next round.
Throughout the first half, Egypt brought far more intensity and desire against a Belgian side that looked slightly surprised by how much more their opponents seemed to want to win. Egypt took a deserved lead thanks to a fine strike from Al Ahly’s Eman Ashour, whose shot proved to powerful for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Belgium looked to try and get Doku going to get back into the game, but Egypt shut the Manchester City winger down well during the first 45 minutes. The first half showed concerning signs of how reliant Belgium are on Doku to provide an attacking threat, which may not have been helped by Rudi Garcia’s starting eleven.
Garcia only waited a few minutes into the second half before deciding to ring the changes. Just before he did, Kevin De Bruyne’s well struck free kick hit the outside of the post, the closest that the Red Devils had come. Nicolas Raskin and Maxim De Cuyper joined the fray just before the hour mark, with Garcia taking off Andre Onana and Timothy Castagne. However, Egypt looked the more likely to score the second goal of the game, with Courtois having to make a save that almost saw Ashour make it 2-0 on the rebound.
Egypt squandered a few more chances before Garcia turned to Romelu Lukaku, who had an instant impact. A great ball down the line from Raskin was crossed towards Lukaku, whose presence forced Mohamed Hany to turn the ball into his own net. With Lukaku on the pitch, suddenly Belgium looked a completely different team. Lukaku had a glorious opportunity late on to earn Belgium all three points, but his free header from a few yards out went flying high and wide of the goal. Belgium then had a late free kick to win the game, but Brandon Mechele’s shot was went wide.
Next up for Belgium is a clash with Iran before they end their Group Stage campaign against New Zealand. Expectations will be that the side can take six points from their next two games.
