John Hanna of Tampa (center) cheers as Egypt players go around the field to greet the crowd following their side’s win during a FIFA World Cup Round of 32 match against Australia, on Friday, July 3, 2026 , at Dallas Stadium in Arlington.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON — On Thursday night over at the Globe, a fan in Australia’s green-and-gold kit barehanded a foul ball in the second deck, much to the delight of the 33,000, most of whom wouldn’t know a Socceroo from a kangaroo. No matter. If it’s one thing Texans can appreciate, it’s a righteous party.
The celebration moved down the street Friday, where Australia met Egypt, which not only won the knockout match, 4-2, in a penalty shootout, but its fans also took home top honors for the World Cup’s “Best Costume,” hands down.
Not since Crozier Tech’s Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs left town in a Packard hearse to sing “Wooly Bully” to a nationwide audience have we seen the likes of these Pharaohs.
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A Egypt fan cheers as he gets tossed on the air ahead of a FIFA World Cup Round of 32 match against Australia, on Friday, July 3, 2026 , at Dallas Stadium in Arlington.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
The accoutrements are, of course, the local appeal of the World Cup, at least among those who count Brandon Aubrey as their favorite soccer player. Any ol’ Luddite can appreciate the greatness of a Messi, Ronaldo or Mbappé, each of whom has risen to the occasion.
Egypt fans celebrate after winning a penalty shootout against Australia for a FIFA World Cup Round of 32 soccer match, Friday, July 3, 2026, in Arlington.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
But it takes a true believer among nonpartisans to get up for Australia-Egypt, which, as history goes, is roughly the equivalent of Iowa and Nebraska meeting in the men’s Sweet 16 back in March.
The Pharaohs had never so much as won a match in World Cup play until this tournament. Australia hadn’t scored since its opening 2-0 win over Turkey. Next came a 2-0 loss to the U.S., then a scoreless draw with Paraguay. When Emam Ashour’s header in the 13th minute found the left side of the net, it had all the looks of an insurmountable lead.
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Australia couldn’t even in good conscience claim the game-tying goal in the 55th minute of the second half.
Not when it came off the noggin of Egypt’s Mohamed Hany, his second own goal of the World Cup.
Sooner or later, you figure one of the Pharaohs would have to ask Hany just whose side he’s on, anyway.
For the first knockout win in Egypt’s history, the Pharaohs probably earned the right to play Argentina, the defending champs.
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Of course, such a cynical statement misses the point of the World Cup. The goal for most isn’t winning, really. France is a formidable favorite, with only a handful of nations in its class.
The mission for most is to hang at the party until someone throws you out.
As a veteran of 10 Olympics, eight on foreign soil, I can tell you they are no comparison to a World Cup. Not the crowds, anyway. Brazilians were so over it in Rio, they practically boycotted events. The demand for Friday’s game at JerryWorld wasn’t the same as it was for Argentina, when so-so tickets on the secondary market went for more than $2,000. The same seats went for $700 Friday, which still ain’t cheap. Yet more than 70,000 packed the place.
Hosting an international event of this magnitude has, indeed, been an eye-opener. I don’t have any great memories from my abbreviated work detail at Cotton Bowl matches in 1994. Then again, I don’t remember breakfast.
The closest we usually get around here to games between sovereign nations is Texas-OU.
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The good news is the World Cup hasn’t come with any controversies locally. Not so much at other sites, some of it hard to explain to the layman. Ecuador’s Piero Hincapié was red-carded for speaking to a player from Mexico with his hand over his mouth. Where I come from, it’s simply the polite thing to do with your mouth full, which apparently was the case with Hincapié.
Closer to home, the U.S. suffered a major blow when Folarin Balogun, one of the team’s best scoring threats, was red-carded after a replay for stomping a Bosnian player’s ankle, even if it didn’t appear to be his intent. Bad call. Some made the point that Messi committed a far more egregious offense earlier in the tournament, and he didn’t get carded.
No one had to explain that one to me. Here in America, we call it the “superstar rule,” because superstars make the rules.
The only player of a similar caliber at JerryWorld on Friday was Egypt’s Mo Salah, who was questionable going in with a bum leg. Fans hoisted flags with his picture and “King of Egypt” scrawled underneath. The 34-year-old former Liverpool star, who figures it might be his final World Cup, wasn’t about to sit this one out.
Even scored a penalty kick that left Australia’s keeper on his bum.
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“It’s history,” Salah said of Egypt’s first knockout win ever. “I told the boys before the game this is the biggest stage you can play in your life.”
The party rolls on for the Pharaohs, anyway. Sam the Sham would be down with that.