Hamza Abdel Karim goes down in history with a number "weird"

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The Egyptian national team wrote a golden page in its history by qualifying for the finals of the 2026 World Cup, becoming the fifth African team to achieve this feat after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), Ghana (2010) and Morocco (2022 and 2026).

The Pharaohs set several records, most notably Imam Ashour scoring Egypt’s first qualifying goal in 92 years, most notably since Abdel Rahman Fawzi’s goal against Hungary in the 1934 World Cup, achieving the longest time difference between two goals for one team at this stage.

Egypt became the third African team to take penalty kicks at the World Cup after Morocco (twice) and Ghana (once), while the current edition witnessed a historic precedent when two African teams (Morocco and Egypt) won the same tournament for the first time.

Mohamed Hani scored two own goals to become the second player to do so in a single World Cup after Bulgaria’s Ivan Futsov (1966) as a record 13 own goals at the 2026 World Cup.

Barcelona youngster Hamza Abdel Karim achieved a unique feat by coming on as a substitute against Australia, becoming the first player in history to feature in a qualifying match without playing for the first team or the reserves.

The Pharaohs await the winner of the showdown between Argentina and Cape Verde in the last 16 as part of an unprecedented historic adventure.

5. Egypt is only the fifth African country to advance beyond the knockout stages of the World Cup.

🇨🇲 Cameroon 1990
🇸🇳 Senegal 2002
🇬🇭Ghana 2010
🇲🇦Morocco in 2022 and 2026
🇪🇬Egypt in 2026

Pride. pic.twitter.com/mNpFIh8KVk

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 3, 2026

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