Belgium and Egypt played to a 1-1 draw in their Group G opener of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 15, 2026, in Seattle before a crowd of 66,775 under a heat advisory with temperatures around 30C [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
Egypt struck first in the 19th minute when Emam Ashour scored with a powerful shot from outside the box. It was Ashour's first international goal [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. The Egyptian team was captained by Mohamed Salah, who played in a deeper central role on his 34th birthday, while goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir started the match [1, 3, 8, 4, 7].
Belgium's lineup featured goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and midfielder Kevin De Bruyne as starters. Romelu Lukaku began on the bench after a difficult 2025-26 season with Napoli, where he played just 69 minutes and did not start any games [1, 9, 8, 10]. Lukaku has 90 international goals and recently returned to form after his injury setback [9, 10].
Lukaku came on as a substitute in the 66th minute. Seconds later, he pressured Egypt’s Mohamed Hany into scoring an own goal to level the match for Belgium [2, 3, 9, 5, 10, 6, 7]. Belgium nearly took the lead several times, including a Kevin De Bruyne free kick that hit the post and a missed chance by Jérémy Doku before halftime [3, 4, 6, 7]. Lukaku also missed a late header chance that could have won the game for Belgium [3, 6].
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said, "We saw the impact of Lukaku when he came on." He added, "I’m happy he’s recovered, because Belgium doesn’t have another player like him. We’ll have to manage him carefully. I know everyone wants to see him start, but we’ll take it step-by-step" [9, 10].
Belgium and Egypt are in Group G alongside Iran and New Zealand, who will face each other later on June 15, 2026 [2, 3, 5, 6, 7].
