Egypt’s Chances To Advance At The World Cup

All of a sudden, Egypt appears to be one of the most interesting teams at the 2018 World Cup. This is due in part to people realizing that this time around, Egypt is probably the best of the African nations involved, and may in fact be an above average team in this year’s field. However, it’s mostly thanks to the meteoric rise of Mohamed Salah, who over the course of the 2017-18 Premier League and Champions League campaigns has risen from reliable scorer to world-class superstar.

As The Sun put it, arguing that Salah deserves to win Ballon d’Or, he’s captured the imagination of football.
All of this, plus the fact that Egypt was drawn into Group A alongside host nation Russia, means all eyes will be on the Egyptian national team this summer. We’ve already posted the dates and times for the team’s three group stage matches (against Uruguay, Russia, and Saudi Arabia). Now we’re going to take a look at the team’s chances.

World Cup odds are starting to pop up on sports betting platforms, and though right now the bulk of those odds tend to focus on things like the overall winner or top goal scorer, sports betting ultimately covers a lot of events. That means that in the coming weeks we’ll see clearer and more prevalent odds for individual matches, including the three Egypt is guaranteed to play in the group stage. In the meantime however, here’s how things are looking, objectively speaking.

Egypt vs. Uruguay

Here the early odds are tilted fairly strongly against Egypt. Uruguay can’t quite be called a contender to win it all, but it also isn’t quite out of the question. Uruguay has an aggressive midfield and an attack spearheaded by Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani that will make it difficult to stop. Egypt has a balanced team and the deadliest scorer in the world right now, so anything’s possible. But the likeliest outcome is a tough start for Egypt.

Egypt vs. Russia

This really appears to be the pivotal match in the group. Because Saudi Arabia is a distant fourth in this group, and Uruguay the clear top team, the winner of this match is likely to advance to the knockout stage. Early on the odds appear to favor the hosts, and there are those who believe Russia could be helped along by some form of corruption. Purely from a football perspective however, Egypt is the better team, and should secure a point or three.

Egypt vs. Saudi Arabia

This is the match Egypt absolutely must win, and likely will. Saudi Arabia won’t be close to favored in any of its three matches, and is likely the weakest team in the entire field. Three points are well within reach here.

Add it all up and the equation for Egypt actually looks quite simple. Three points against Saudi Arabia are expected. Beyond that, three points against Russia or any points against Uruguay ought to translate to advancing to the knockout stages.