{"id":21008,"date":"2026-06-15T03:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T03:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/21008\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T03:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T03:05:12","slug":"egypt-vs-belgium-preview-mohamed-salah-eyes-birthday-gift-as-pharaohs-chase-world-cup-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/21008\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt vs Belgium preview: Mohamed Salah eyes birthday gift as Pharaohs chase World Cup history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt begin their World Cup journey on Monday with a highly-anticipated clash against Belgium, who consider the Pharaohs to be their toughest opposition in a balanced Group G. <\/p>\n

Hossam Hassan\u2019s men have been preparing for their opening game at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, before they travelled 450km west on Saturday (40-minute flight) to take on the Belgians at Lumen Field in Seattle. <\/p>\n

All eyes on Salah and Marmoush<\/p>\n

The two teams are joined by Iran and New Zealand in the group<\/a>, but Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said on Thursday that he has his eyes firmly fixed on Egypt, who pose a serious threat via dynamic duo Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a big thing to start well especially against Egypt that are, I think, the strongest team that we face, so it\u2019s important to win,\u201d said the Real Madrid shot stopper. <\/p>\n

Courtois and Salah were teammates for about a year at Chelsea back in 2014 and were opponents when Real Madrid downed Liverpool in the Champions League final in Paris in 2022. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mohamed Salah leads Egypt on return to World Cup<\/p>\n

\u201cMo is a good friend. We played together and often against each other. He\u2019s a great player, important to Egypt, together with Marmoush. Hopefully it\u2019s the same as the final in Paris. Then I\u2019ll be happy,\u201d said Courtois<\/a> with a grin. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a top player, so we have to watch out for the transition game, especially with the two of them. I think we\u2019ll put up a tough block against them. They\u2019ll try to hurt us with counter-attacking. That\u2019s where their quality is. We need to be alert.\u201d <\/p>\n

Marmoush earned his 50th cap during Egypt\u2019s 2-1 defeat to Brazil last week but unlike Salah, who led the Pharaohs in Russia 2018, the Man City forward will be making his World Cup<\/a> debut on Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just going to play in the World Cup – we’re going to compete for a championship. Of course, we must be realistic; we’re playing against some of the best teams in the world, and the level of the nations we’ll be facing is very high. But we’re not going thinking we will just play three matches and leave. God willing, we will succeed,\u201d Marmoush told his club\u2019s digital magazine. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur ambitions are high and the confidence among the players is very high that hopefully we can do something and raise Egypt’s name. We want to show ourselves in a good way, and we can dream of winning the tournament too, or of reaching a certain stage. We’re not going just to make a name for ourselves \u2013 it is not a case of, \u2018We went to the World Cup\u2019 and that’s it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the players we have, with the team we have, with the quality we have, and as the Egyptian national team, we are the best team in Africa. We go to the World Cup to pass the group stage, to show the world who we are, not just to be present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salah turns 34 on Monday and will be hoping to make it a double celebration with success against Belgium. The former Liverpool winger top-scored for Egypt with nine goals during their 2026 World Cup<\/a> qualifying campaign and netted twice at Russia 2018. <\/p>\n

Salah<\/a> didn\u2019t start against Brazil last week but will no doubt lead the team from the beginning against Belgium. <\/p>\n

The quest for an elusive win <\/p>\n

With a record of two draws and five losses, Egypt have not claimed a single victory in any of their three previous World Cup appearances but there is great optimism, not just among the players and coaching staff, but among those watching at home, that that can change this month in North America.<\/p>\n

Ahmed El Shenawy, goalkeeper of Pyramids FC and formerly of the Egyptian national team, believes the Pharaohs should capitalise on this new expanded World Cup format and advance to the knockouts for the very first time. <\/p>\n

\u201cInshallah the national team goes far,\u201d he told On Sport on Thursday. \u201cAll the players are big players and big names and hopefully our [Europe-based] players will carry us. I hope we can do something different this World Cup. <\/p>\n

Best of World Cup 2026 – in pictures <\/p>\n

“We have a big chance because the World Cup has a different format and there are more teams, so you have a real chance of making the knockouts. God willing, they can go as far as possible. I don\u2019t want to exaggerate but just pass the group stage and things can go well for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Morocco\u2019s run to the semi-finals at Qatar 2022 has provided hope and inspiration for all Arab teams and El Shenawy feels Egypt can pull off a similar surprise. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we advance, things can flow for us and the players can focus even more and think \u2018Why not? We are doing something big so let\u2019s keep going\u2019. So they could potentially push themselves to continue and who knows, things can happen for us like it did for Morocco,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Egypt in high spirits<\/p>\n

All reports from Egypt\u2019s camp indicate the spirits are high and the squad is ready to begin their campaign. <\/p>\n

Promising performances in friendlies against Saudi Arabia, Spain, Russia, and Brazil have instilled confidence within the players, who were reminded by Hassan during their final practice in Spokane on Saturday that they have what it takes to threaten the best teams in the world. <\/p>\n

Hassan has been seen kicking the ball with the players during warm-ups and is known for his motivational leadership style. <\/p>\n

The former striker, who is Egypt\u2019s all-time leading goal-scorer with 69 to his name (Salah is just two goals shy of Hassan\u2019s record), has guided the Pharaohs to 18 victories, seven draws, and five losses during his tenure so far as head coach. <\/p>\n

Belgium finished third in Russia 2018 but exited the World Cup from the group stage four years later in Qatar. <\/p>\n

The Red Devils lost their most recent meeting with Egypt \u2013 a friendly in Kuwait back in 2022 \u2013 but boast a squad that combines youth with experience, under the guidance of coach Rudi Garcia. <\/p>\n

The Egyptians are expected to adopt their organised defensive game plan that helped them reach the Afcon semi-finals in January, while relying on counter-attacks. <\/p>\n

After Qatar scored their first point in World Cup history against Switzerland and Morocco held Brazil<\/a> on an eventful Saturday, will the Pharaohs get on the board and enjoy a positive start in Seattle?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Egypt begin their World Cup journey on Monday with a highly-anticipated clash against Belgium, who consider the Pharaohs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,5260,12028,2178,1730,3206],"class_list":["post-21008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-egypt","tag-sport-team","tag-standard","tag-story","tag-world-cup-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116751913898594152","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}