Saudi Arabia stun Egypt with last-gasp win at World Cup

Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dawsari struck in the 90+5 minute at Volgograd Arena to beat Egypt 2-1, turning a final Group A match between already-eliminated sides into one of the World Cup’s most dramatic finishes. Mohamed Salah had put Egypt ahead in the 22nd minute, but Saudi Arabia steadied before halftime and then seized the game in stoppage time.

Egypt looked set to leave Russia with at least a consolation win after Salah finished in the first half, a goal that briefly matched the optimism surrounding Hector Cuper’s team after its return to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. Instead, the match tilted on the edge of halftime. Salman Al-Faraj converted a penalty in the 45+6 minute, and the equalizer changed the rhythm of a game Egypt had been managing for long stretches.

The pressure had already begun to build on Egypt through Essam El Hadary, who at 45 years and 161 days became the oldest player ever to appear at a World Cup. El Hadary also saved a first-half penalty from Fahad Al-Muwallad, a moment that should have given Egypt a firmer grip on the contest. Instead, it became one more turn in a match that kept forcing both teams to absorb the strain of the occasion.

Saudi Arabia, coached by Juan Antonio Pizzi, kept coming after the interval and found the finish that Egypt could not stop. The winner from Al-Dawsari arrived in the final minute and capped a collapse that was as psychological as it was tactical, with Egypt unable to recover after losing control of the game’s most decisive phases. FIFA described the match as an absorbing spectacle that was settled in the final minute, full of emotion and broken records.

The result gave Saudi Arabia their first World Cup win in 24 years and ended a run of 12 winless matches at the tournament. For Egypt, Salah’s goal remained their only strike in the competition, a thin return from a campaign that had carried heavy expectations and ended with a last-gasp defeat in an all-Arab World Cup meeting.