First World Cup match in Seattle ends with tie between Belgium, Egypt

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on Jun 15, 2026

Published in Soccer

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SEATTLE — Almost exactly four years to the day the host cities for the FIFA Men’s World Cup were awarded, the world came to Seattle.

They were clad in red — nearly all of them — with flashes of white, black, yellow and blue. Many wore the crest of Belgium on their chest, seemingly more wore the crest of Egypt. They sang and chanted and stood and cheered on a level international soccer has never previously seen in the Emerald City.

The final result will be recorded as Belgium and Egypt playing to a highly entertaining 1-1 draw in the opening match of Group G. Emam Ashour scored a brilliant goal for Egypt in the first half off an assist from Mohamed Salah on the day of his 34th birthday. Belgium equalized in the second half when Romelu Lukaku’s run to the front of goal led to an own goal off the foot of Egyptian defender Mohamed Hany.

Those are the particulars. In the bigger picture, the toasty June afternoon was another chapter in Seattle’s soccer history.

June 16, 2022 was when Seattle was announced as one of the 16 host cities for the return of the World Cup to North America. It was validation of Seattle’s place in the hierarchy of American soccer. The draw that landed Belgium and Egypt here as the opening match here was still 3 1/2 years away.

And any lingering questions about how the World Cup would be initially received in Seattle were assuaged by the atmosphere that arrived Monday morning. Fans flooded the streets around the stadium hours before kickoff. By the time the noon kickoff rolled around, only scattered seats within Seattle Stadium sat empty. Whether by lowered prices or giveaways, the concerns about a partly empty stadium were gone.

The announced crowd was 66,775. The official capacity for the stadium, according to FIFA, is 66,925.

Seattle showed up. And now comes the best of the group stage matches: the United States vs. Australia on Friday.

As for the soccer itself, Egypt looked promising for 60 minutes; Belgium looked aging.

Egypt took the lead in the 20th minute when Ashour darted to the top of the penalty area, collected a pass from Salah and made a pure strike on a right-footed shot that even the 6-foot-7 frame of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois could not get his fingers on.

It remained a game where the Egyptians were mostly the better side until Lukaku was introduced in the 66th minute and immediately helped the Belgians find an equalizer. The goal was ultimately credited as an own goal by Egypt’s Mohamed Hany as his foot was the last to touch the ball, but it was the run by the burly Belgian forward that created the goal-scoring opportunity.

The final quarter of the match saw Belgium have the better chances at finding a winning goal. Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir made a diving save to deny a ball that seemed destined for the goal off the head of Belgium’s Brandon Mechele in the 83rd minute. A couple minutes later, Lukaku was left alone in front of goal but put his header over the crossbar.

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