An Ibrahim Adel brace helped Egypt record a historic victory over Spain and qualify for the quarter-finals as Group C winners.
Spain made ten changes to their starting lineup while Egypt started with the same lineup that has beaten Uzbekistan.
Spain XI: Iturbe; Pubill, Mosquera, Pacheco, Miguel Gutiérrez; Bernabé, Beñat Turrientes, Diego López, Oroz, Camello, Omorodion.
Egypt XI: Alaa, El-Debes, Fayed, Abdelmaguid, Eid; Elneny, Shehata, Ahmed Koka; Zizo, Ibrahim Adel, Osama Faisal.
The Pharaohs knew they only needed a draw or to match the Dominican Republic’s result against Uzbekistan in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The game started slowly with Spain holding possession, but without causing any threat which led Egypt to grow into the game, with some long shots exchanged between both sides.
The deadlock was broken just a few minutes before the half-time whistle as a long ball from the Egyptian backline was controlled by Ahmed Sayed Zizo, before laying it to Ibrahim Adel. The Pyramids FC winger hit the ball first time on the edge of the box to give Egypt the lead.
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Panicking, Spain made two changes at half-time as they needed the draw to qualify as group winners, bringing in ex-Man City Sergio Gomez and Sevilla’s Juanlu Sanchez.
The substitutions worked for the European side who applied the pressure early on after the break and could have equalised if it wasn’t for Hamza Alaa and his defence.
Rogerio Micale was forced to intervene and brought on Mahmoud Saber for Kareem El-Debes to maintain his defence.
In the 62nd minute, a howler from Spain defender Jon Pacheco saw him put Ibrahim Adel through on goal and the Egyptian winger didn’t need a second invitee as he chipped the ball over the Spanish keeper to make it 2-0 against the run of play.
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— sterlsmapsm (@sterlsmapshd) July 30, 2024
After the second goal, Spain made three more changes applying huge pressure on Hamza Alaa. This led Egypt to sit back and rely on the counterattacks, but unfortunately, failed to benefit from the huge spaces in the Spanish backline.
Ibrahim Adel and Ahmed Nabil Kouka had two massive chances to increase the lead, while Ahmed Atef did manage to score a third, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
As the game was heading for a comfortable Egyptian win, cross from the right was met by Samu Omorodion’s header to reduce the deficit and make it 2-1.
The referee added 10 minutes of injury time, which saw Ahmed Atef and Zizo waste two further chances as the game eventually ended in a 2-1 win for the Pharaohs.
This result means Egypt tops the group with seven points followed by Spain with six points, while the Dominican Republic stayed third after a 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Uzbekistan.
The Pharaohs will now face Group D runner-ups, one of Mali, Paraguay, or Israel in the quarter-finals on Friday 2 August 2024 at 8 PM CET.
Egypt’s next opponent will be decided tonight at 12 AM CET when the games of Group D conclude.
Japan tops Group D with six points followed by Paraguay with three points. Mali and Israel each have one point. in the last game of Group D, Japan plays Israel and Paraguay plays Mali.