Key events<\/p>\n
52 min: Amazingly \u2013 or inexplicably, depending on your viewpoint \u2013 Hany is given the go-ahead to continue. That\u2019s quite the turnaround.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n 51 min: Elsewhere \u2026 but we can still keep the session going until 5am, yes Keir?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 49 min: \u2026 but amazingly, within a minute, Hany is back up on his feet! And he wants to continue. But he went out like a light momentarily, and surely won\u2019t be allowed to go on? A discussion on the sideline as the game restarts.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 48 min: In going for that header, Metcalfe\u2019s shoulder accidentally caught Hany, coming in behind. Hany falls, spark out cold, and on come the physios.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 47 min: \u2026 then up the other end, there\u2019s some head tennis in the Egypt box, and Metcalfe clanks a header wide left! Somewhere in a parallel universe, it\u2019s 2-1. But here we are.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 46 min: That would have been quite the miserable introduction for Trewin, who has been sent on for the stricken Bos.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Egypt get the second half started \u2026 and within nine seconds, Marmoush gets in ahead of Trewin down the middle, and should score! But he whips a low shot inches wide of the right-hand post! A big miss and a huge let-off for Australia!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019ve just seen some footage of poor Bos, who was caught heavily by Rabia right at the end of the first half, being helped down the tunnel. His left leg is dangling in the air, he can\u2019t put any weight on it, and he\u2019s not holding it at a natural angle. I\u2019d be very surprised if he continues. Rabia certainly crunched him, but he got the ball milliseconds before the man, and that\u2019s exactly when Bos\u2019s boot landed on terra firma. On the BBC, Scott Brown, who knows a thing or two about going in hard but fair, argues that it was a good tackle. Australia fans will understandably demur.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time postbag. \u201cThat first half performance was nowhere near good enough and doesn\u2019t suit my pre-tournament prediction\/expectation of the Socceroos winning the World Cup<\/a> and validating all of my life choices. Popovic has to make changes for the good of the nation and my personal narrative: Toure on for Irvine, Hrustic on to sort set-pieces, Mabil on for … ah, forget about it, I\u2019m just going to fire up Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on the Playstation 2\u201d \u2013 Chris Paraskevas<\/p>\n \u201cWhile much was made of Africa placing nine out of ten teams into the knockout stage, even an unlikely sweep of today\u2019s three matches would see more than half crash out. As it is, Egypt is the bookmaker\u2019s best chance of the day to avoid the worst-case scenario of finishing 1-8. While there were some admirable efforts by DR Congo, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and Senegal, it does appear depth is their Achilles heel upon moving up to the next level\u201d \u2013 Pete Mumola<\/p>\n \u201cIf Egypt thinks they\u2019ve already won the game they\u2019re in de-Nile\u201d \u2013 Steve Tonks<\/p>\n \u201cKnocking out Egypt might not be as easy as everybody Sphinx\u201d \u2013 Peter Oh<\/p>\n \u201cPresumably once the sea levels rise again, the pyramids will be the Pharaoh Isles\u201d \u2013 James Humphries (and yes we have upgraded our Pun Platter to Taste the Finest)<\/p>\n \u201cTV just showed the Momentum graphic. I was always taught in science classes that we had to indicate our units on any graph. What is the unit or measure of football momentum?\u201d \u2013 William Walters<\/p>\n Vibes?<\/p>\n Share<\/a>HALF TIME: Australia 0-1 Egypt<\/p>\n There\u2019s no time to restart after the argument, and everyone goes down the tunnel for their half-time oranges \u2026 apart from Bos, who might have planted his studs in the turf and twisted his knee. He\u2019s still getting treatment on the pitch. More on that when it becomes clearer.<\/p>\n Photograph: Tony Gutierrez\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.58 EDT<\/p>\n 45 min +5: Bos goes down, having been tackled by Rabia then caught on the follow through. No foul, though. He\u2019s not happy, Irvine isn\u2019t happy either. A lot of discussion.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +3: Irankunda competes for a cross swung into the Egypt box from the left. He\u2019s gently nudged from behind by Hafez. Some half-hearted shouts for a penalty, but come on.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +2: Volpato curls wide left from long distance. Shobeir has it covered.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.48 EDT<\/p>\n 45 min +1: The first of five additional first-half minutes. Marmoush drops deep and wedges a pass down the inside-left channel. Salah, breaking into the box but facing the wrong way, tries to swivel and cushion a header into the path of Zico, but can\u2019t quite manage it. A decent effort, though.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min: Marmoush tries to send Salah scampering into big space down the middle. In days gone by, Salah would have got to the ball and zipped away \u2026 but they\u2019re long gone now. Australia clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43 min: Irakunda falls into the back of Ibrahim and manages to catch him on the ankle and back-heel him up the seat of his pants at the same time. That move has an Olympic difficulty tariff of 5.8.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 min: Just as he did for the goal, Salah declines to send the free kick in direct, but changes the angle, pulling back for Zico, who curls into the Australia box. O\u2019Neill heads clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 40 min: Bos hangs out an arm and slaps Ashour in the mouth. All of that sounds more aggressive than it was \u2013 it seemed accidental \u2013 but it was a bit careless and so the referee awards a free kick, which Salah prepares send in from the right.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: Bos runs hard down the right and wins a corner. It\u2019s hit long by Volpato, but Circati can\u2019t get a header away at the far stick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 37 min: Circati goes long down the right. Irankunda tries to spin Ibrahim, who heads back to his keeper \u2026 but only just. Irankunda nearly nipping in. He\u2019d have been clear in the box had he executed better.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 35 min: Circati sends another long throw in from the right. Irankunda lays the ball back to Behich, who has a whack from the left-hand edge of the D. Another easy one for Shobeir.<\/p>\n Nestory Irankunda of Australia. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.40 EDT<\/p>\n 34 min: \u2026 and to tie up all the loose ends from that little episode, Hany trots back on and rejoins the action.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 min: The free kick\u2019s sent into the mixer and Bos swishes a weak effort straight at Shobeir, who claims. Then the whistle goes for a free kick anyway \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 32 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Hany needs some attention, having been accidentally caught by Irankunda when the Australian was in the process of being fouled! A bit of a farce on one level, but a sore one for Hany, who has to go off for treatment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min: Irankunda tries to play the ball around Ibrahim and into space down the inside-left channel. He\u2019s caught by Ibrahim, and that could be a yellow card \u2026 but isn\u2019t \u2026 though it is a free kick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min: There\u2019s not a whole lot going on. Egypt seem quite happy to sit back and let Australia, who haven\u2019t scored since their opening match, huff and puff. \u201cSo infuriating that we can\u2019t take even a half-decent corner,\u201d sighs Matt Leonard. \u201cNot one set piece has got anywhere near big Harry\u2019s eyebrows all tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 27 min: The game restarts. \u201cFor the people of the world who are suffering from middle-of-the-night start times, I feel for you,\u201d begins USA resident Mary Waltz. \u201cBut for the last 12 years I have been getting up at 4am every weekend to watch Premier League football. And most of the World Cups have required vampire hours to watch live.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 25 min: No snacks yet, you\u2019ll get those in the second half. But would you like a pun?<\/p>\n [MBM proffers silver dish]<\/p>\n \u201cThat Pharaoh joke made me Tut. Giza break\u201d \u2013 Colin Livingstone [MBM withdraws dish]<\/p>\n No, sorry, we didn\u2019t stump up for the premium platter.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min: Behich works his way down the left and earns Australia a corner. The set piece is sent deep, and headed harmlessly wide right by Herrington \u2026 and that\u2019s drinks. It\u2019s either some cans of Victoria Bitter and a \u201cgoon bag\u201d of chardonnay, or tea, coffee and fresh juices. But who\u2019s offering what? No lazy national stereotyping, this is the Guardian after all.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 21 min: Fathy wedges a pass down the inside-right and suddenly Zico is free! He reaches the edge of the box before sending a low drive inches wide of the bottom left. The flag goes up for offside, but that looked close, and VAR would at least have taken a look had Zico\u2019s shot gone in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 19 min: Bos battles his way down the right and looks to have won a corner off Rabia, but the linesman and referee get it wrong and award a goal kick to Egypt. Nothing much coming off for Australia since that Volpato shot off the crossbar.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 17 min: Attia, quarterbacking from deep, sends a long ball down the inside-left channel for Marmoush, who takes it down elegantly before entering the box and looking for the top right. Souttar blocks. Dak Prescott would have been proud of that Attia slingshot.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15 min: Australia look to bounce back immediately, Circati throwing long into the Egyptian box from the right. The ball makes its way through to O\u2019Neill, who comes in from the left and bobbles a low diagonal shot wide right.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Aiden O’Neill and Egypt\u2019s Emam Ashour battle for the ball. Photograph: Kevin C Cox\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.38 EDT<\/p>\n GOAL! Australia 0-1 Egypt (Ashour 13)<\/p>\n Salah taps the free kick to his right for Ashour, who has a bash from a tight-ish angle. That\u2019s blocked, but the ball breaks to Hafez on the right-hand corner of the box. Hafez curls back to the far stick, and Ashour, in acres of space, plants a downward header into the left-hand portion of the net! Lovely assist and a calm finish.<\/p>\n Egypt\u2019s Emam Ashour scores the opening goal. Photograph: Jessica Tobias\/AP Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images Photograph: H\u00e9ctor Vivas\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.35 EDT<\/p>\n 12 min: Zico hovers to the left of the Australia box, and is cleaned out unceremoniously by Irvine. A free kick coming up in a very dangerous position. Salah to take. Everyone piles into the Aussie area.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 11 min: Rabia sends a backpass to Shobeir, who lets the ball run under his foot and is forced to spin around and hook off his own goalline, under pressure from Irankunda. Nearly a farcical error by the keeper, though the backpass wasn\u2019t great and didn\u2019t do him any favours.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 9 min: Salah gets his first meaningful touch of the ball, and tries to find Marmoush in the Australia box with a wedged pass down the right channel. But he can\u2019t beat the first defender.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 7 min: Nothing comes of the corner. That was such a crucial intervention by Rabia. Without it, Bos was surely putting Australia ahead. The Socceroos look like they plan to get after this much-changed and patched-together Egypt defence.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6 min: Well, after a very quiet start, that Volpato effort has snapped Australia into focus. And now Bos barrels down the same inside-right channel, entering the box and preparing to shoot \u2026 but as he cocks his leg back, Rabia sticks out a toe to divert out for a corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 5 min: Volpato turns into space down the inside-right channel. He\u2019s afforded too much time. From 25 yards, he takes aim for the top left, and sends a looping shot off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick. Shobeir wasn\u2019t getting to it had it been on target.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 4 min: Attia sends a long pass down the right, hoping to find Ashour. Souttar comes across to unpretentiously bash the ball into touch. Then Australia try the long ball, down the left, but Shobeir comes out of his area to hack clear ahead of Irankunda.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min: A fairly scrappy, nondescript start. Players happy enough to get a first nerve-calming touch of the ball.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Australia get the ball rolling. The roof is keeping that noise in all right! \u201cYes, just the 4am kick-off here in Sydney \u2026 but there will be a pharaoh-ld celebration should Australia beat Egypt and koala-fy for the next round.\u201d Sean Boiling, ladies and gentlemen. He\u2019s here all week morning. With that sort of patter, isn\u2019t that enough?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The teams are out! Australia in gold and green, Egypt in red. The anthems, both glorious, all about fair advancement and beloved homelands. Who could argue with those sentiments? A rare old atmosphere at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. We\u2019ll be off in a couple of minutes!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Pre-match postbag (totally solely penned by Chris Paraskevas).<\/p>\n double quotation markThe last few days have been a strange mix of emotions, led largely by bouts of stomach cramps out of nervousness and anticipation, but mitigated by the realisation that this World Cup has completely re-contextualised the phrase \u201cI don\u2019t have a girlfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n Far from bobbling aimlessly between Fifa x White Castle hydration breaks like some broken, forgotten buoy, the steady procession of 140 quarters of football per day has given me a sense of direction and purpose: no romance to distract me; no \u2018Are you going to watch the football all day again?\u2019 looks of disapproval; just pure, uninterrupted freedom to enjoy the World Cup as a middle-aged man(child).<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I\u2019m feeling nothing but white-hot anticipation for this tie. There\u2019s no need to be afraid: this World Cup is almost the stuff Socceroos dreams are made of, with friendly time zones, favourable draws and clean sheets abound.<\/p>\n Popovic and his players might as well cast off the shackles at some point tonight, because there\u2019s nothing to lose and everything to win. Be positive, don\u2019t hesitate and when the opportunity comes, make sure you are as clinical as I was when I purchased and built my Lionel Messi Celebration Lego (suggested age range: 14-18 years old).<\/p>\n GO THE \u0336M\u0336I\u0336D\u0336L\u0336I\u0336F\u0336E\u0336 \u0336C\u0336R\u0336I\u0336S\u0336I\u0336S\u0336 SOCCEROOS!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A message to all Australian fans who have got up early \/ talked the whole night through. And to think England fans are moaning about the 1am shift they\u2019ll have to put in on Monday. Some people don\u2019t know they\u2019re born.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u266c \u266a \u266b Nothin\u2019 could be grander than to be in Louisiana Arlington-a \u266c \u266a \u266bShare<\/a><\/p>\n A peek inside the Australian dressing room. Yes, someone\u2019s been giving those Ted Lasso blu-rays a good old spin, haven\u2019t they.<\/p>\n Do it. Photograph: Hannah Peters\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesDO IT. Photograph: Hannah Peters\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.28 EDT<\/p>\n If Mo Salah scores tonight, he\u2019ll tie his coach Hossam Hassan\u2019s Egyptian record of 69 international goals. The 34-year-old team captain has appeared in 119 appearances for the Pharaohs; Hassan reached his total after 177 caps. And while we\u2019re on the subject of the Egypt coach, here\u2019s a must-read piece on his close ties with the country\u2019s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the military general whose \u201csecurity apparatus has infiltrated every aspect of civilian life\u201d \u2026 including football.<\/p>\n Mohamed Salah of Egypt attends a training session ahead of the match against Australia. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.00 EDT<\/p>\n Team news: Socceroos unchanged; Salah starts<\/p>\n For Australia it\u2019s simple. Coach Tony Popovic names the same starting XI as he did against Paraguay. Nestory Irankunda continues to lead the attack, while Jordan Bos remains as right wing-back.<\/p>\n Egypt make five changes from the team that started the 1-1 draw with Iran \u2026 though their top line is that Mo Salah has made it, despite hamstring concerns. He\u2019ll be joined up front by Omar Marmoush, with defenders Yasser Ibrahim and Karim Hafez, and midfielders Hamdy Fathy and Marwan Attia also coming into the team. Tr\u00e9z\u00e9guet and Mahmoud Saber drop to the bench, while Mohamed Abdelmonem and Ahmed Fatouh are injured, and Mohanad Lasheen is suspended.<\/p>\n Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Neundorf\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.34 EDT<\/p>\n The teams<\/p>\n Australia: Beach, Circati, Souttar, Herrington, Bos, O\u2019Neill, Irvine, Behich, Volpato, Metcalfe, Irankunda. Egypt: Shobeir, Hany, Rabia, Ibrahim, Hafez, Fathy, Attia, Ashour, Salah, Ziko, Marmoush. Referee: Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.27 EDT<\/p>\n \u2026 all of which brings us to this afternoon\u2019s showdown. It\u2019s the first competitive meeting between the two countries, though Egypt did win a Cairo friendly 3-0 back in 2010. (On the scoresheet for Egypt that day: Gedo, who earlier in the year had scored the winning goal in the Africa Cup of Nations final, and Mohamed Zidan, who had provided the assist. But we digress.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 and here\u2019s how Egypt got out of Group G. Undefeated, though they really rode their luck towards the end against Iran.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Australia made it through Group D. The hard yards covered in their first game against one of the pre-tournament hipster picks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This is how we saw things from the outset. Reacquaint yourself with today\u2019s cast and crew.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Australia have made it out of the group stage at the World Cup<\/a> twice before. On both occasions, in 2006 and 2022, they lost their first knockout game to the eventual champions, respectively Italy and Argentina. That historical quirk will almost certainly be consigned to the dustbin this year, because either the Socceroos will win a knockout game for the first time ever, or if they lose again \u2026 well, you can get 500-1 on the Pharaohs going all the way, so best of luck with that.<\/p>\n Australia didn\u2019t exactly wow the world in getting through Group D. A 2-0 win over false-starting Turkey, a 2-0 loss against the USA, and a goalless draw with Paraguay. But they made it anyway. By contrast, while this isn\u2019t the greatest iteration of Egypt either, the seven-time champions of Africa do have Mo Salah primed for one last hurrah, and qualifying for the knockouts for the first time in four attempts has got them buzzing in a way the Socceroos are not<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, on balance, it\u2019s too close to call. One of these countries will make history today by winning their first-ever World Cup knockout match, after which they\u2019ll most probably be playing the reigning champs Argentina in the last 16. A hell of a big prize is on offer, so may the best side win. Kick-off is at 1pm local\/2pm EDT\/7pm BST\/4am AEST. It\u2019s on!<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was an Ashour-ed finish\u201d \u2013 Peter Oh<\/p>\n
Subs: Ryan, Izzo, Degenek, Geria, Toure, Hrustic, Mabil, Devlin, Trewin, Burgess, Velupillay, Okon-Engstler, Yengi.<\/p>\n
Subs: El Shenawy, Soliman, Mohamed Alaa, Abdelmaguid, Trezeguet, Abdelkarim, Hassan, Emad, Adel, Saber, Tarek Alaa, Zizo.<\/p>\n