Belgium needed this one. A World Cup opener against Egypt, with Iran and New Zealand still to come, was meant to be the ideal launch pad for a squad that has spent years being told it is ready for something more. Instead, Rudi Garcia's side left Lumen Field in Seattle with a point they scrambled for rather than earned, rescued only by a Mohamed Hany own goal that flattered them considerably.
Egypt had the lead for 47 minutes, and they deserved every one of them. Emam Ashour broke the deadlock in the 19th minute, finishing from a Mohamed Salah assist in what was the clearest expression of Egypt's gameplan: compact, dangerous on the counter, and entirely unintimidated by the names on the opposite side of the halfway line. For the best part of an hour, Hossam Hassan's side looked like they might hold on for one of the more striking opening-round results this tournament will produce.
Belgium's response was fitful and, at times, genuinely frustrating to watch. Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku offered intermittent threat but the fluency that Belgium fans had a right to expect never arrived. Charles De Ketelaere occupied the lone striker role without ever truly stretching Egypt's back line, and De Bruyne, given licence to find the pockets that usually make him so difficult to contain, found the Egyptian defensive block frustratingly well-organised. Fourteen shots in total, yet only three on target. That number tells the story of the afternoon more plainly than most scorelines manage.
The equaliser, when it came on 66 minutes, owed nothing to Belgian ingenuity. Hany turned a cross into his own net, and the scoreline shifted without Belgium having really done enough to shift it. Romelu Lukaku came off the bench with 26 minutes to play and worked hard, bringing his physicality to bear in a game that needed a spark, but he could not find the decisive touch the situation demanded. Garcia's double substitution at that same moment, withdrawing both Onana and Tielemans together, briefly unsettled Belgium's midfield structure precisely when they needed it most. It was the kind of decision that will be scrutinised carefully before their next fixture.
Egypt were not passive recipients of a point. They finished the game with 11 shots inside the box, seven corners earned, and a goalkeeper in Mostafa Shobeir who made three saves and commanded his area with assurance. Mohanad Lasheen was tidy and disciplined in the double pivot all afternoon. Omar Marmoush led the line with persistence and physicality, giving Belgium's centre-backs a more uncomfortable evening than they would have anticipated. Salah, operating in a withdrawn creative role rather than as an out-and-out forward, was the architect of the goal and a consistent source of anxiety for Belgium's defence whenever the ball reached him in space.
The group table shows both sides level on one point. Iran and New Zealand have yet to play. Belgium, on this evidence, are good enough to progress from Group G but not yet convincing enough to threaten the tournament's upper tier. Egypt, by contrast, may have announced themselves more emphatically than anyone anticipated on a warm Monday evening in the Pacific Northwest.
Tielemans had been Belgium's most consistently involved outfield player before his withdrawal, covering ground and keeping possession cycling through a side that completed 86 per cent of their passes. The numbers looked respectable. The football, too often, was considerably less so.