Toluwani Lasisi
Egypt missed the chance to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by drawing 0-0 in Burkina Faso, where victory would have sealed the Pharaohs’ progress with two games left to play.
Bidding to join North African rivals Morocco and Tunisia in qualifying early for the finals, Egypt thought they had broken the deadlock in a tight game after 66 minutes only for Osama Faisal’s goal to be ruled offside.
In a game of few chances in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou, the substitute swept home captain and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah’s knockdown only for the flag to instantly rise.
Egypt’s hopes were hampered by an early injury to Omar Marmoush, which will worry Manchester City with the forward hobbling off after just nine minutes and a Manchester derby in the Premier League next for his club on Sunday.
Both Marmoush and Salah, who had one of his quieter games, had scored first-half penalties on Friday as Egypt beat Ethiopia 2-0 in Cairo to set up the chance to qualify against the Burkinabe but the Pharaohs seldom threatened from open play once again.
In fact, they failed to score for the first time in Group A despite fielding both Salah and Trezeguet, who have scored 12 of Egypt’s 16 qualifying goals, with the former Aston Villa man registering the game’s only two shots on target.
