Mohamed Salah said he and his Egypt team-mates had made history by beating Australia in a penalty shoot-out to book their spot in the last 16 of the World Cup.
The teams played out a 1-1 draw after extra time at Dallas Stadium, with Emam Ashour’s first-half opener cancelled out by a Mohamed Hany own goal after the break.
Harry Souttar and Lucas Herrington were unsuccessful from 12 yards for the Socceroos, and Hossam Abdelmaguid guided home the final spot-kick to give Egypt a 4-2 shoot-out triumph.
Egypt are consequently only the second African nation ever to win a World Cup penalty shoot-out, after Morocco’s two triumphs (2022 versus Spain and 2026 against Netherlands).
It was both Australia and Egypt’s first penalty shoot-out at the World Cup – the first time two nations were both involved in one for the first time at the finals in the same game since Denmark and Croatia’s last-16 match in 2018.
Speaking after sealing their progression, Egypt hero Salah said: “It’s history. I told the boys before the game that this is the biggest stage you can play on. Enjoy it and don’t let the pressure get to you.
“I’m glad that we managed to win the game, bad luck for them. I’m happy that we wrote history today.”
Salah was on target during the shoot-out, displaying typical confidence to net with a Panenka penalty.
“If somebody was going to do it, it would be me!” Salah added.
“I am more experienced than others and I wanted to give them confidence. I decided last minute, I had to do it.”
Egypt wins on penalties and goes through to the Round of 16! #FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 3, 2026
Australia coach Tony Popovic opted to change goalkeepers shortly before the end of extra time, with Patrick Beach being replaced by Mathew Ryan.
It was a decision that ultimately proved futile, with Australia now having been eliminated from all three of their World Cup knockout games – 2006 versus Italy, 2022 against Argentina, and 2026 by Egypt.
Asked about the decision to switch his keepers by SBS, Popovic said: “I think that was always an option for us with [Ryan’s] experience.
“Then you’ve got to see how the game plays out, and sometimes in extra time players go down and you need to make the changes and you don’t have a sub available, but we still had one available with a couple of minutes to go, and we put Matty on.”
Popovic also expressed his pride in Souttar and Herrington after their heart-breaking misses.
“It’s not a moment to think about that now. That will come, I’m sure. I’m extremely proud of them,” he added.
“I haven’t even thought about the players who missed the penalties. Unfortunately, we go home and the World Cup ends for us.”
