Never before had they won a fixture in three previous appearances at the finals. Few gave them a chance of breaking that duck in their 2026 opener against a Belgian side stacked with top talent.<\/p>\n
And yet the Egyptians were good value for their first-half lead. From the off, they were by far the more aggressive and forward-thinking of the two sides.<\/p>\n
They deserved the opener, when it arrived in the 20th minute, through Ashour. The 28-year-old Al Ahly playmaker found space outside the Belgium box, and drilled his shot low and hard past Thibaut Courtois, the Real Madrid goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
Having played all his career to date in his homeland \u2013 other than a brief stint at Midtjylland in Denmark \u2013 Ashour\u2019s global renown is a long way off that of his colleagues in Egypt\u2019s attack, Salah<\/a> and Omar Marmoush.<\/p>\n It did not stop him revelling in his moment of glory, though. He busted out a billionaire strut to celebrate the opener, before he was flattened by his equally thrilled teammate, Mostafa Ziko.<\/p>\n Despite the constant threat they posed going forward, while the score stayed at 1-0 it was a precarious lead for Egypt.<\/p>\n It felt particularly fragile when Kevin De Bruyne curled a free kick against the post near the start of the second half.<\/p>\n Egyptian team officials speak to The National after tie with Belgium<\/p>\n Ashour had a glorious opportunity to double Egypt\u2019s advantage shortly after, yet rashly shot wide.<\/p>\n He had the goal at his mercy after Courtois had pawed away Salah\u2019s header. He completely lost his poise, though, lashing in a shot that was so woeful it went out for a throw-in on the left-hand side of the field.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/media\/ZtDu2Gs3\/poster.jpg\")
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