World Cup: Egypt Achieves Historic Milestone by Advancing to the Second Round, while Saudi Arabia and Iraq Bid Farewell

SadaNews - Egypt secured its place in the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history, despite drawing 1-1 against Iran early Saturday in Seattle, during the third and final round of Group G matches.

Egypt lost the group leadership to Belgium, which defeated New Zealand 5-1 on goal difference, while Iran occupied third place, awaiting the results of the final group matches to determine its fate.

Mohamed Saber scored for Egypt in the fifth minute after a shot from Mohamed Salah deflected off the Iranian defense, and the goalkeeper moved to clear the ball, which fell to Saber, who struck it powerfully, slipping between the legs of the Iranian goalkeeper into the net.

The referee awarded a penalty to Iran in the ninth minute after Egyptian defender Mohamed Abdel-Monem fouled striker Mehdi Taremi.

Mustafa Shobeir, the Egyptian national team's goalkeeper, brilliantly saved Taremi's shot.

The Iranian national team equalized after a powerful shot from Milad Mohammadi inside the penalty area was saved by Mustafa Shobeir, but the ball rebounded to the left, where Ramin Rezaeian followed up to score.

In a related context, Belgium secured its advancement to the Round of 32 in the World Cup, finishing first in Group G, after beating New Zealand 5-1.

Leandro Trossard, the star of the Red Devils, scored two goals in the match in the 28th and 50th minutes, while Kevin De Bruyne added the third goal in the 66th minute and Romelu Lukaku scored the fourth in the 86th minute. The fifth came from Alexis Saelemaekers in stoppage time.

Meanwhile, Elija Just scored the only goal for New Zealand in the 84th minute.

Saudi Arabia Fails..

In another group, the Saudi national team concluded its participation in the 2026 World Cup after being held to a goalless draw against Cape Verde early Saturday in the third and final round of the group stage, officially exiting the tournament in the first round.

The "Green" entered the match with a "must win" mentality to keep their hopes of advancing to the Round of 32 alive, but they failed to find the net for the second consecutive match, finishing with only two points, landing them in the fourth and last place in Group H.

In contrast, Cape Verde managed to secure a valuable point, raising its total to 3 points, which placed them second behind Spain, who topped the group with 7 points, booking a ticket to the Round of 32, while Saudi Arabia and Uruguay exited the competition.

Spain Secures..

The Spanish national team clinched the top spot in Group H of the 2026 World Cup after a tough victory over Uruguay with a score of 1-0, ensuring its position at the top of the table and clarifying its full path towards the final match, in terms of potential venues and timings for the upcoming knockout rounds.

"La Roja" will begin its journey in the Round of 32 on July 2 at the "Sofi" stadium in Los Angeles; they will face the runner-up of Group H, which will be determined between Austria and Algeria after their match early Sunday.

If they advance to the Round of 16, the Spanish team will play its next match in Dallas on July 6 at the same time, against the winner of the match between Colombia and Ghana or Croatia, with the possibility of changing the route if Colombia defeats Portugal.

In the event of reaching the quarter-finals, the Spanish team would return to California to play in Los Angeles on July 10, potentially against the American team coached by Mauricio Pochettino, according to predictions.

The semi-finals will take place in Dallas on July 14, with France looming as one of the most significant potential competitors at this stage, while the grand final will be in New Jersey on July 19.

If Spain loses in the semi-finals, it will play for third place in Miami on July 18.

This path presents Spain with a gradual challenge, involving travel through three major U.S. states and facing teams from diverse soccer backgrounds, in pursuit of the dream of winning another world title to restore the glory of 2010.

France Tops..

The French national team convincingly finished at the top of its group in the 2026 World Cup after a barrage of offensive displays against Norway, winning 4-1 in the third and final round of the group stage.

The "Les Bleus" dominated from the first minutes, showing they are powerfully defending their chances for the title, with a terrifying attacking performance that confused the "Vikings" and determined the qualification fate early.

The match was marked by Ousmane Dembélé, who delivered a historic night reminiscent of the great forwards in France's history, in the absence of coach Didier Deschamps due to the passing of his mother.

Dembélé opened the scoring in the seventh minute after an assist from Kylian Mbappé, then added the second (20) with another assist from Mbappé, before Thelonious Azgard reduced the deficit for Norway (21) off an assist from Andreas Schjelderup.

Dembélé completed his hat-trick in the 32nd minute after a key pass from Aurélien Tchouaméni, while Désiré Doué added the fourth for Les Bleus (90+4) with an assist from Bradley Barcola.

France, the group leader, is set to face the third-placed team from Group F, Sweden, while Norway, the runner-up in the group, will meet the Ivory Coast in the Round of 32.

Iraq Bids Farewell..

The Iraqi national team exited the 2026 World Cup in a disappointing manner, suffering a harsh defeat against Senegal with a score of 5-0, in a match that took place today (Friday) in Toronto, Canada, ending the group stage of Group I.

With this result, Iraq finished last in the group without any points, failing to secure a single point in its second World Cup appearance in history, marking the heaviest defeat in the history of the Lions of Mesopotamia in World Cup tournaments, while Senegal raised its points to 3, settling in third place, waiting for the calculations of advancement to the Round of 32 among the best teams finishing in third.

Senegal didn’t take much time to threaten its opponent, creating danger from the third minute with a powerful shot from Janna Jaye, which hit the Iraqi defense and went past the post for a corner. From that very corner in the fourth minute, the Lions opened the scoring after Abdallah Sarr rose to meet a precise cross, heading it down before it touched his teammate Habib Diallo and found its way into the Iraqi net.

The suffering of the "Lions of Mesopotamia" increased in the tenth minute due to a grievous error from defender Rebin Solaqa in clearing a header, allowing star Sadio Mané to intercept and breakaway on goalkeeper Ahmed Basil, which forced Solaqa to foul him to stop the danger. Initially, the referee awarded a free-kick and issued a yellow card, before being advised by VAR to reassess and subsequently issued a direct red card to the Iraqi defender for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity; Mané executed the free-kick himself with a direct shot that goalkeeper Ahmed Basil outstandingly saved.

The Senegalese onslaught continued, taking advantage of the numerical disadvantage, and Jacobs nearly added the second goal in the 33rd minute with a powerful ground shot that grazed the post, while Mané attempted to mark his first World Cup goal in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half with a shot that went above the crossbar. At the start of the second half, the Iraqi national team faced another blow as goalkeeper Ahmed Basil left injured and was replaced by Jalal Hassan.

Senegal started the second half threateningly with a shot from Diallo in the 47th minute that went past the post before Iraq registered its first and almost only offensive appearance in the 53rd minute with a powerful shot from Ali Jassem from outside the area that was saved by Senegalese goalkeeper Diaw.

Senegal swiftly punished Iraq; after Jalal Hassan saved a shot from Ismaila Sarr in the 55th minute, Sarr scored the second goal in the 56th minute, capitalizing on a mistake by his teammate Kamara who dispossessed Zidan Iqbal for holding the ball too long, passing it effortlessly to Sarr who found the back of the net.

The Iraqi defense completely collapsed after the second goal, allowing substitute Babi Gaye to add the third goal in the 59th minute with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area that found the net. Gaye himself returned to score his second and his country's fourth goal in the 71st minute, after receiving a header from Nday inside the area, unleashing a thunderous shot that settled into the goal.

Senegal scored the fifth goal in the 83rd minute with a powerful shot from Eliman Nday from the edge of the area that hit the net, concluding the match with a wide Senegalese victory and a bitter exit for Iraq.