First World Cup match in Seattle ends with draw between Belgium, Egypt

by · The Seattle Times

Almost exactly four years to the day the host cities for the FIFA Men’s World Cup were awarded, the world came to Seattle.

They were clad in red — nearly all of them — with flashes of white, black, yellow and blue. Many wore the crest of Belgium on their chest, seemingly more wore the crest of Egypt. They sang and chanted and stood and cheered on a level international soccer had never seen in the Emerald City.

The final result will be recorded as Belgium and Egypt playing to a highly entertaining 1-1 draw in the opening match of Group G on Monday. Emam Ashour scored a brilliant goal for Egypt in the first half off an assist from Mohamed Salah on the day of his 34th birthday. Belgium equalized in the second half when Romelu Lukaku’s run to the front of goal led to an own goal off the foot of Egyptian defender Mohamed Hany.

Those are the particulars. In the bigger picture, the toasty June afternoon was another chapter in Seattle’s soccer history.

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“During the game, you try to focus but, yeah, it was really good,” Belgium captain Youri Tielemans said. “We had both sets of fans making some noise. It was great.”

The foundation of Seattle soccer is the more than half-century of the Sounders, the arrival of the Reign, the decades of highly successful college programs in the area and the countless fields filled with kids and parents on weeknights and weekends.

We’re a city that’s hosted the FIFA Club World Cup, international friendlies, World Cup qualifiers, MLS championship games and continental finals.

From a purely soccer perspective and what happens on the field, they all take a back seat to the magnitude of a World Cup match being played here that came eight years after the tournament was awarded to North America and four years after Seattle heard its name called.

It was June 16, 2022, when Seattle was announced as one of the 16 host cities for the return of the World Cup to North America. The reveal was validation of Seattle’s place in the hierarchy of American soccer. The draw that landed Belgium and Egypt here as the opening match here was still 3½ years away.

And any lingering questions about how the World Cup would be initially received in Seattle were assuaged by the atmosphere that arrived Monday morning. Fans flooded the streets around the stadium hours before kickoff. By the time the noon kickoff rolled around, only scattered seats within Seattle Stadium sat empty. Whether by lowered prices or giveaways, the concerns about a partly empty stadium were gone.

The announced crowd was 66,775. The official capacity for the stadium, according to FIFA, is 66,925.

Seattle showed up. Even Julio Rodríguez, Bryan Woo and Randy Arozarena were there. And now comes the best of the group stage matches: the United States vs. Australia on Friday and a match that should top Monday in significance.

As for the soccer itself, Egypt looked promising for 60 minutes; Belgium looked aging.

Egypt took the lead in the 20th minute when Ashour darted to the top of the penalty area, collected a pass form Salah and made a pure strike on a right-footed shot that even the 6-foot-7 frame of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois could not get his fingers on.  

It remained a game in which the Egyptians were mostly the better side until Lukaku was introduced in the 66th minute and immediately helped the Belgians find an equalizer. The goal was ultimately credited as an own goal as Hany’s foot was the last to touch the ball, but it was the run by the burly Belgian forward that created the goal-scoring opportunity.

“When you’re an opponent and you see Lukaku coming in you’re probably quaking in your boots and your level of concern is probably on the rise,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said.

The final quarter of the match saw Belgium with the better chances at finding a winning goal. Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir made a diving save to deny a ball that seemed destined for the goal off the head of Belgium’s Brandon Mechele in the 83rd minute. A couple minutes later, Lukaku was left alone in front of goal but put his header over the crossbar.

“I think I played a very good match. Defending, I did my job. It’s a shame we didn’t keep a clean sheet. I tried to be dangerous in a quiet phase. I created chances, it was a shame they didn’t go in,” Mechele said.

The final stats were remarkably even. Belgium had more shot attempts (15-14), but Egypt put more on goal (4-3). Both teams committed 15 fouls, Belgium had 53% of the possession and both teams were shown two yellow cards.

“Even after earning the draw we gave away quite a few opportunities. We could have earned the win,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said.

Credit belongs to Egypt playing for the victory into the closing moments in its effort to find a first World Cup victory. The draw was the third time in its history earning a point in the group stage and a promising result after losing all three matches the last time Egypt was in the World Cup in 2018 in Russia. The Pharaohs will have a chance to erase that mark from their World Cup history when they play New Zealand on Sunday in Vancouver, B.C.

“No one lacked any abilities today,” Hassan said. “We tried to accommodate what was happening on the pitch. We tried to gain more control over the midfield. The match has showed we were closer to earning the win.”

Belgium’s next match is also on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif., against Iran. Garcia seemed the immediately understand the importance of getting three points against Iran if Belgium wants to accomplish its goal of winning the group and having round-of-32 and potentially round-of-16 games in Seattle.

“For us, we have to win against Iran. There are no two ways about it,” Garcia said.