First half belongs to Egypt: Ashour scores

In the Round of 32 elimination stage of the 2026 World Cup, the national teams of Australia and Egypt faced each other at the AT&T Stadium located in Arlington. As the first forty-five minutes of the match concluded, it was Egypt who headed into the dressing room with a 1-0 scoreboard advantage. In the 13th minute of the match, during an Egyptian attacking sequence, Mohamed Salah executed a free-kick with a short pass to initiate the play. Following this pass, Karim Hafez delivered a cross directly into the Australian penalty area. Rising to meet the cross, Emam Ashour struck the ball with a header, sending it into the back of the net and putting Egypt ahead 1-0. This header was officially recorded in the match statistics as Emam Ashour's second goal of the tournament.

Examining the statistical data from the first half of the match, the offensive and possession figures for both teams were recorded as follows: In expected goals (xG) values, Australia generated a rate of 0.28, while Egypt, who finished the half in the lead, measured an expected goals rate of 0.41. In terms of ball possession percentages, Egypt held a 56% to 44% superiority over Australia. Throughout the first half of the match, Australia attempted a total of 5 shots, whereas Egypt registered 3 shot attempts. In the big chance creation statistics, Egypt created 1 big chance, while Australia failed to generate any big chances (0) in the first half. Looking at the data for touches in the opponent's penalty box, the Australian team made contact with the ball 10 times inside the opponent's area, compared to the Egyptian team's 6 touches.

Image: Sofascore