Socceroos v Egypt: Everything you need to know as Salah races the clock
Australia face the Pharaohs in Dallas for a place in the last 16 — and Mohamed Salah is racing the clock to be fit.
THE Socceroos play Egypt at Dallas Stadium on Saturday at 11.30am (AEST), 90 minutes away from a place in the World Cup Round of 16. Here is everything you need to know.
How they got here
Australia opened the tournament with an impressive 2-0 win over Türkiye, with Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe scoring while debutant goalkeeper Patrick Beach made eight saves to announce himself on the world stage. A flat 2-0 loss to hosts the United States followed, before a gritty 0-0 draw with Paraguay was enough to seal second place in Group D and send Tony Popovic's side through. It is the third time the Socceroos have reached the knockout rounds, and the second tournament in a row, continuing a run that has quietly become one of the more reliable in world football.
The kids have arrived
The real story of the group stage was the emergence of Australia's young right flank. Jordan Bos and Cristian Volpato — the Sydney-born playmaker who switched his allegiance from Italy just weeks before the tournament — tore Paraguay apart, combining repeatedly to create the bulk of Australia's chances and giving the side an attacking threat it has lacked for years. Former Socceroo Luke Wilkshire singled out the 22-year-old Volpato's bravery and willingness to make things happen, and on that evidence both look like genuine building blocks for the future — and potentially the difference in Dallas.
The Salah question
This is where it gets interesting for Australia. Egypt captain Mohamed Salah limped off in the 57th minute of his side's 1-1 draw with Iran, his leg strapped and ice on the muscle, before scans confirmed a hamstring strain and he sat out training on Sunday. It is the same hamstring that cost him three weeks at Liverpool back in April, which makes the timing especially worrying for the Pharaohs. Coach Hossam Hassan has played the injury down, insisting it does not seem serious, but he would say that. With one goal and two assists in the group stage, Salah is the player Egypt are built around, and a patched-up version of him — or no Salah at all — changes everything about how dangerous they are.
The cracks in Egypt
Salah is not the only injury concern in the Egyptian camp, either. Regular left-back Ahmed Fatouh has been ruled out with a hamstring tear, while centre-back Mohamed Abdelmonem is racing to be fit after an ankle knock of his own. A reshuffled and uncertain Egyptian defence against Australia's in-form right side is exactly the kind of matchup Popovic will be eyeing. Set against all of that, though, is the fact that Egypt arrived here unbeaten and reached the knockouts for the first time in their history — this is a confident, well-organised side that has earned its place.
Then it gets harder
Should Australia find a way through, the reward is a Round of 16 meeting with either Argentina or Cape Verde — and with it the very real prospect of running into Lionel Messi and the same Argentina side that ended the Socceroos' campaign in 2022. That is a problem for another day, but it is there on the horizon all the same.
A World Cup of upsets
If anyone needed reminding that seeding counts for little this year, Saturday provided it in emphatic fashion. Morocco knocked out the fancied Netherlands on penalties, and Paraguay — the very side that held Australia to a draw just days ago — dumped Germany out of the tournament in a shootout. In a World Cup where results like that are becoming the norm rather than the exception, the Socceroos have every reason to believe they can write the next chapter of their own.