Despite the energy-sapping 30-degree heat, both teams began this match on the front foot, though it took until the seventh minute before any efforts of note came about, as Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne fired just wide from outside the area.
Egypt were compact and efficient in their possession, with Omar Marmoush particularly impressive, but they were consistently thwarted by a well-organised Belgian defence.
That was until Emam Ashour received Mohamed Salah’s simple pass before letting fly from distance in the 20th-minute, with his right-foot shot leaving Thibaut Courtois grasping at thin air as the ball nestled in the bottom corner.
Belgium redoubled their efforts to try and get Jeremy Doku into the game, but still struggled collectively to get going, and the Manchester City man’s wild stoppage-time attempt rather summed up the Red Devils’ opening 45.
A scramble right at the start of the second half saw Belgium escape further punishment, and they could’ve drawn level shortly afterwards, when De Bruyne’s direct free-kick after Doku had been felled cannoned back off the woodwork.
Courtois was then called upon to parry Salah’s free header, before Ashour dragged his follow-up well wide.
The undercurrent of Man City influence across the field only continued, as Marmoush soon caught Belgium on the break, but as he was about to pull the trigger, Nathan Ngoy snuffed out the danger.
That appeared to encourage the Red Devils, and Youri Tielemans’ incredible left-footed volley was just a whisker wide.
But when Romelu Lukaku came on in the 66th minute, he made his presence felt within seconds, and in Mohamed Hany’s attempts to clear the ball from the striker’s path, he only succeeded in putting it into his own net.
Having been handed a lifeline, Belgium began to pour forward at every opportunity, with Mostofa Shobeir brilliantly denying Brandon Mechele with a flying one-handed save late on.
The draw ensures that Belgium have still lost just one of their last 16 group stage matches at the World Cup (W8, D7), and despite Egypt’s inability to earn a fifth clean sheet in their last six games, this performance largely bodes well for the African heavyweights.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Timothy Castagne (Belgium)
