Australia vs Egypt | FIFA World Cup 2026 — Round of 32 | Preview and Predictions

Australia will battle it out with Egypt for a place in the Round of 16 in this all-important knockout fixture on 3rd July at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington, USA. 

For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.

FIFA WC26 | Round of 32: AUS vs EGY| 23:30 IST, July 3, 2026

Australia began their World Cup campaign with a surprising 2-0 win against a strong Türkiye side. They couldn’t keep up their initial form thereafter as they lost to co-hosts USA and then drew with Paraguay. Four points proved to be enough to seal a R032 qualification berth for the Aussies. 

Egypt also started their campaign well, drawing their first game against Belgium. The Pharaohs then secured their first-ever World Cup win against New Zealand, recovering  from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 with Mo Salah being the difference maker in the second half. Their last group stage game ended in a nervy draw against Iran but with five points from three games, Egypt secured their first-ever knockouts qualification. 

Both teams are pretty much equally poised and there isn’t an overwhelming favourite between the two. Unfortunately, both teams have a couple of absentees due to injuries and suspension. Australia could be without Mathew Leckie and Jacob Italiano for this game while Egypt could miss Ahmed Fatouh and Mohamed Abdelmonem due to injury with Mohanad Lasheen out suspended. 

Egypt will look to rely heavily on their talismanic forward Mohamed Salah to lead them into the Round of 16. Barring Salah and Omar Marmoush, none of the Egyptian players have exposure to the big European leagues. As for Australia, most of their players come from European clubs, Harry Souttar, Jordan Bos, Jackson Ervine, Connor Metcalfe, Nestory Irankunda and Mathew Ryan all play in Europe. 

Salah, Marmoush, Mostafa Ziko, Trézéguet and Emam Ashour will be key for the Egyptians in this game while the Socceroos’ main threat could come from Irankunda, Bos and Mathew Ryan. Difficult to call this game but Egypt will miss key players in defence and midfield which could give Australia a minor advantage. The two teams have never played each other at the World Cup, they have only faced each other once in a friendly match a long time back which Egypt won comfortably. 

We believe this could be a tight affair like many RO32 fixtures so far. Egypt do possess the better and more experienced forward line but their backline has conceded goals in every game. Australia kept two clean sheets in the group stage but had difficulty scoring goals. Our prediction for this game would be a narrow win for Egypt as they will go further into uncharted territory – the Round of 16. 

Score Prediction: Australia 1-2 Egypt 

Venue: Dallas Stadium, Arlington, Texas, USA