2026 World Cup: Egypt Makes History Again, Advances to Round of 32

Egypt has barely made it, but it made it officially.

Egypt's National Football Team is through to the Round of 32 of the World Cup 2026, for the first time in our football history — and for the first time in World Cup history after a tie with Iran in a football match to remember.

Mahmoud Trezeguet and Ramin Rezaeian

There are many firsts here.

Egypt's qualification for the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has already become a landmark achievement in our national team's history, setting a series of unprecedented records.

For the first time, Egypt progressed beyond the World Cup group stage, completed the group phase unbeaten, secured a 3-1 victory over New Zealand, and finished second in its group on goal difference behind Belgium.

The Pharaohs also scored a record five goals in a single World Cup group stage, netted their earliest-ever World Cup goal in the sixth minute of a match, and entered their final group game with qualification already guaranteed.

Hossam Hassan became the first Egyptian coach to lead the national team at a World Cup after having previously played in the tournament himself, and the first local coach to guide Egypt to such an unprecedented run.

There are also important firsts.

Mahmoud Saber scored in the 5th minute against Iran on June 26 — his first international goal, in a 1–1 draw at the 2026 World Cup, which was also Egypt's fastest-ever World Cup goal.

Zico and Saber made history for real "Melissa Levin"

Saber was unknown to most Egyptians before this game.

It is his first international goal ever, and it came at the World Cup. Saber plays in the local Egyptian league, having started out in the lesser-known second division with Nogoom FC, then moved to Pyramids FC, and is currently on loan to Zed FC.

There are also important seconds.

Saber is actually the second local-league player to score in this edition, after Zico — shattering the myth that only Egyptian players in foreign, Western leagues can be our goal scorers at the World Cup and AFCON.

Mostafa Shobeir became the second Egyptian goalkeeper to save a penalty kick in a FIFA World Cup match, joining Essam El Hadary, who did so against Saudi Arabia in 2018.

Now, to the elephant in the room.

It was a fair victory. It was not a robbed or rigged game, as some claimed after Iran's disallowed goal at the end of the match. It was an offside. It was truly an offside.

I am sad to tell you: those are the actual offside rules. Yes, they are unfair, and yes, they should be changed — but you should know that even the Iranian national team and Iranian Football Federation won't lobby for the laws to change, because it's a double-edged weapon they can just as easily use in their own favor.

It is like the VAR. Many say that it is killing football, while others say it saved it.

Contrary to what many think, Egypt has lost to the offside rule far too many times ourselves — we've learned it by heart.

God knows many Egyptians prayed that Algeria would beat Austria so that Iran could still reach the Round of 32.

Iran won the hearts and minds for real. Their team was the toughest for real in the group.

I know that outside the Arab world, many don't like the Egyptian team now, after Iran's elimination — but that's football.

That doesn't mean Iran wasn't denied equal opportunity compared to other teams over the course of the tournament, in ways that felt unprecedented.

FIFA is complicit. I'm not surprised or shocked — FIFA has long been a byword for political and financial corruption. Corruption runs through FIFA just as the Nile runs through Egypt.

Needless to say, I've found that Coach Hossam Hassan — the anti-hero of Egyptian football — has become a social media sensation, both worldwide and in Iran.

Iranians discovered he's the doppelgänger of the actor who played the ancient Egyptian priest of Amun in Iran's "Youssef" TV series, the hit show dramatizing the life of Prophet Joseph.

Hossam and his twin brother, Ibrahim Hassan, are like the direct descendants of the famous Sheikh el-Balad aka Priest and scribe Ka-aper, of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

FYI, the Statue is still at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in Tahrir square.

Social media is also having a field day with memes of his infamous blow-up with Emam Ashour.

إمام عاشور خاف 😅 pic.twitter.com/TWUFztXAyH

— Emad Osama (@emadosamasayed) June 27, 2026

The fact that Ashour, a bad boy himself, was terrified for a moment by Hossam’s “WTF” moment tells you everything.

I have to say — Hossam and Ibrahim are putting on their best act yet, keeping their notoriously violent tempers under such tight restraint that I wonder if they've taken up meditation.

I won't pretend I loved the team's performance in this game. The second half slid back into the dull, exhausted play we thought we'd left behind earlier in the tournament.

We're up against Australia next, and honestly, between that fatigue and the injuries we picked up, I half expect we'll be flying home to Cairo right after.

But still — we achieved something no one expected. We broke a curse we never thought we'd break. We won matches and advanced to the World Cup.

May be civilian, pluralistic democracy in Egypt is not impossible either.