For the better part of a decade, the world was in thrall of their feats in northwest England. On Monday, the Kevin De Bruyne-Mohamed Salah duel reprised, now transposed to northwest America
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The Premier League giants captained their respective teams in a taut FIFA World Cup encounter, which stood level after a goal precipitated by another ageing great — Romelu Lukaku. The draw perhaps pleased Egypt supporters more than those of Belgium, but for the neutrals, it was a rare opportunity to see the Manchester City and Liverpool legends cross swords amid different, bigger stakes.
De Bruyne too was looking forward to the reunion with Salah, saying before the game that it would be “nice to compete again like old times”. It remains to be seen how ‘nice’ the Belgian midfield rock still felt, after falling excruciatingly short of scoring on several occasions.
Having slammed a shot wide in the early exchanges, De Bruyne very nearly got it right in the 53rd minute with a deftly crafted free-kick that clattered the woodwork. The Napoli star was to mistime an effort to let go of one more big chance, before getting substituted in the 86th minute.
Thibaut Courtois, the third member of the Red Devils’ old-guard core, also had an off day. The veteran goalkeeper committed uncharacteristic errors in open play as well as set pieces and was lucky not to concede a second goal, that would have dramatically altered the Group G equations.
Salah, on the other hand, made his 34th birthday special by threading through the perfect pass to set up Emam Ashour’s 19th-minute scorcher. With the assist, Salah became the first African player on record to register a FIFA World Cup goal involvement on their birthday.
He was also the second-oldest African player to land an assist at the World Cup since 1966, after Roger Milla (38 years and 42 days) in 1990 against England. Further, the winger created three chances, the most for Egypt on the afternoon.
Salah’s dazzling Merseyside legacy includes 257 goals and 122 assists, but was bookended by the game passing him by often en route his farewell. The Pharaohs’ skipper did not let that happen in their 2026 Cup campaign opener, playing in a new number 10 role, behind rather than alongside Omar Marmoush.
Going into the match, Egypt had won three of their previous four face-offs with Belgium, including a 2-1 friendly victory in 2022. In that game, De Bruyne’s blunder just outside his own penalty area had led to Egypt’s opener, and Salah’s vision unlocked the second. The result was different, but in a way, history repeated itself on Monday.