Saudi Arabia Sealed Win Over Egypt In Final Seconds, Claiming Third In Group A

Saudi Arabia and Egypt signed off their 2018 FIFA World Cup participation with an absorbing spectacle at Volgograd Arena that was only settled in the final minute.

The match between Group A’s two already-eliminated sides had everything: fight, emotion, goals, broken records and a dramatic twist at the end.

Mohamed Salah’s neatly-taken lob over the onrushing goalkeeper looked to have knocked the wind out of the Saudi sails, and they almost conceded a second to the Liverpool forward immediately afterwards. However, Juan Antonio Pizzi’s team refused to give in and instead scored twice themselves – once at the end of each half.

But not before a unique piece of World Cup history: legendary Pharaohs shot-stopper Essam Elhadary, who at 45 years and 161 days is now the oldest player ever to feature at the tournament, superbly thwarted one penalty kick only to be beaten by Salman Alfaraj from 12 yards moments later. Salem Aldawsari rolled home a volley to snatch victory with the game's final influential touch.

Final Score: 

Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt

Man of the Match

​Mohamed Salah stylishly broke the deadlock in the match with his second strike of the tournament. Moreover, it was Egypt’s quickest goal in World Cup history. ​