Egypt made history yesterday when they advanced to the FIFA World Cup knockout stages for the first time in history. The celebrations, however, were quickly tempered by criticism from Mike Lahoud, a CBS Sports Golazo analyst and former Sierra Leone and Major League Soccer player. He claimed that despite qualifying, the Pharaohs’ 1-1 draw with Iran revealed worrying flaws.
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Lahoud started with giving credit where it was due. “This is the first time they’ve ever qualified for the knockout round of a World Cup competition. So congratulations to all my Egyptian friends in Cairo and Alexandria. And congratulations to the Egyptian football fan base. This is a big milestone,” he said.
However, the compliments didn’t last long. “Now you get into the weeds of it. They backed their way into this. What a letdown for me personally, seeing the heroics of how they got the win against New Zealand, where they had to come back and show their character. Mohamed Salah gets a goal. You’re thinking, okay, Egypt can go and win this group. They had every single thing in their locker to win this group. And they let a golden opportunity go by the wayside because now you’re playing the Russian roulette of the next round of the draw, of where you’re going to be in the bracket.”
Egypt fell to second place in Group G following the draw, with Belgium claiming first place after a 5-1 victory over New Zealand, meaning Egypt will face Australia in the Round of 32 in Dallas rather than a potentially easier route if they had finished first.
The match itself demonstrated the type of drama Lahoud was describing. Mahmoud Saber gave Egypt an early lead. Mostafa Shobeir saved a penalty from Mehdi Taremi after Mohamed Abdelrahman fouled the Iran captain, and Ramin Rezaeian leveled for Iran moments later.
The biggest moment of the night came in the final stages, when Shoja Khalilzadeh appeared to score a 93rd-minute winner for Iran, ripping off his shirt in celebration, before a VAR review for offside overturned the goal entirely. Shobeir then denied Saeid Ezatolahi in overtime, securing the point for Egypt.
Mohamed Salah and several stars failed to deliver for Egypt
The criticism eventually became personal. “Not enough players showed up today,” Lahoud said. “Mohamed Salah, okay, he created some half chances, but it was a very quiet performance. And there is some worry about the timing of him coming off the field again, but it’s not just him.”
It was a stark contrast to Salah’s heroics of the previous days. He scored the game-winning goal against New Zealand in the 67th minute and received a standing ovation when he came off in the 85th minute. His outing against Iran was cut short much sooner. Salah was replaced in the 57th minute and immediately had ice applied to his hamstring, sparking speculation that Egypt was having problems with their captain.
Salah had a left knee injury, according to coach Hossam Hassan, though he played down the severity. “I talked to Salah, and he said he’s going to be OK and it’s not a big injury,” Hassan said. “When I spoke to Salah, he assured me he’s going to be OK.”
Salah was not the only one with fitness concerns. “Now you have another injury to the back line in Mohamed Abdelrahman, who suffered an ACL injury and missed almost 60 games. He comes back; he gets a start in the World Cup. And now that’s one of your top defenders, who’s potentially going to miss more time. We don’t know what the extent of the injury is, but he comes off after 14 minutes,” Lahoud said.
Abdelrahman, the left-sided center-back, was sidelined for the entire 2025/26 club season before regaining fitness in time for his World Cup call-up. After conceding the penalty, he was unable to continue and was substituted by Ibrahim. With a key defender’s fitness now in doubt ahead of a knockout match against Australia, Egypt’s defensive depth will be tested at the worst possible time.
Lahoud’s concluding statement was his most blunt. “The wheels were kind of shaking a bit and wobbly. And VAR really saved Egypt today, because the way Iran forced themselves and willed themselves back into this game, maybe controversially, Egypt did not deserve to get a draw today. In my opinion.”
Despite the criticism, Egypt remains alive in the tournament. Regardless of how they got there, the achievement of reaching the knockouts for the first time remains. They now face Australia in Dallas on Friday, a match that gives them the opportunity to silence the critics.
