EGYPT defeated Australia on penalties to claim their first ever win in the World Cup knockout stage and set up a last-16 tie with either Argentina or Cape Verde.
News Point Nigeria Sport report that Mohamed Salah calmly slotted home a Panenka before defender Hossam Abdelmaguid scored the decisive spot-kick for the Pharaohs, who won the shootout 4-2 after Australia defenders Harry Souttar and 18-year-old Lucas Herrington missed their efforts.
Egypt took the lead against the run of play at the Dallas Stadium in their first knockout match since 1934 when an unmarked Emam Ashour powered in Karim Hafez’s right-wing cross beyond Patrick Beach after 13 minutes.
His second goal of the tournament meant his side have scored more goals at these finals (six) than they managed across their previous three appearances in 1934, 1990 and 2018.
It could have been a different story for Australia had Cristian Volpato’s 25-yard effort from outside of the area not clipped the top of the crossbar after five minutes.
After winning only one of their previous 15 World Cup matches when conceding first, it was always going to be a difficult task for the Socceroos.
They had chances to restore parity, with the most inviting coming nine minutes before the break when the ball dropped to Aziz Behich inside the area following a set-piece.
However, the Melbourne City defender – who has scored only three times in 87 internationals – was unable to provide a finish past Mostafa Shobeir.
Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush spurned a glorious opportunity to double Egypt’s lead within 10 seconds of the second half as he rolled a shot wide when through.
They were made to rue that miss 10 minutes later when Egypt defender Mohamed Hany diverted Aiden O’Neill’s free-kick from the left past Shobeir, becoming only the second player in World Cup history to score two own goals at a single tournament.
It was also the 13th own goal of these finals, surpassing the record of 12 in 2018.
The Egyptian will hope there are more tears of happiness to come in Atlanta next week.
For Australia, it was a third defeat in as many World Cup knockout matches, with South Korea in 2002 the last side from the Asian confederation to taste such success.
As Australia head home, Egypt will have a last-16 tie with Argentina in Atlanta on Tuesday, 7 July (17:00 BST).