World Cup 2018
Russia vs Egypt
Group A
Tuesday, June 19th
Saint Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg
World Cup 2018 hosts Russia could all but secure their passage through to the knockout phase of the competition with a win over Egypt on Tuesday after the north Africans were left reeling at the last gasp winner scored by Uruguay against them in their Group A opener last week.
Stanislav Cherchesov’s men stunned the watching world, not least Saudi Arabia, when they kicked off their World Cup campaign with an astonishing 5-0 victory over their middle eastern counterparts. That was Russia’s first win in their last seven internationals dating back to the FIFA Confederations Cup last year as the 2018 hosts took an early stranglehold on Group A ahead of Uruguay.
Group A results:
14/06/2018 – Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia
15/06/2018 – Egypt 0-1 Uruguay
Egypt will welcome back their talismanic midfield maestro, Mohamed Salah, to their squad following his injury layoff for their do-or-die encounter in front of Russia’s adoring yet expectant home crowd. 29-year-old goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy turned in a dazzling display between the sticks but his efforts proved to be in vain and Jose Maria Gimenez headed home a 90th minute winner to hand the South American’s three early points. Hector Cuper’s side are now themselves without a win in seven internationals since Mo Salah’s penalty against Congo in October secured a 2-1 win and a place amongst the world’s elite once more.
Tuesday’s affair will be the first-ever meeting between the pair. Russia are currently the lowest ranked side in this year’s tournament and are sitting in 70
th place according to the official FIFA rankings while Egypt, Africa’s fifth best team, currently occupy 45
th position.