World Cup 2026 Round One Review: How Arab Teams Started the Tournament
The first round of the 2026 World Cup delivered mixed results for Arab teams, with strong performances from Morocco and Egypt, while others faced early challenges in the opening stage of the historic expanded tournament.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off with a highly competitive and historic group stage, featuring 48 teams for the first time across the United States, Canada, and Mexico 🌍⚽.
Arab national teams entered the tournament with high expectations, and the opening round delivered a mix of strong performances and difficult setbacks.
🇲🇦 Morocco Impresses Against Brazil
Morocco delivered one of the standout performances of the round, holding Brazil to a 1-1 draw 🔥, showcasing defensive discipline and tactical maturity against one of the world’s strongest sides.
🇪🇬 Egypt Holds Belgium
Egypt also impressed with a solid 1-1 draw against Belgium ⚽, demonstrating strong organization and resilience throughout the match.
🇹🇳 Tunisia Faces Heavy Defeat
Tunisia suffered a tough 5-1 loss against Sweden 📉, leading to early technical changes in an attempt to stabilize their campaign.
🇸🇦🇶🇦🇮🇶🇯🇴 Mixed Results for Other Arab Teams
Qatar drew 1-1 with Switzerland
Saudi Arabia drew 1-1 with Uruguay
Iraq lost 1-4 to Norway
Jordan lost 1-3 to Austria
Algeria lost 0-3 to Argentina
📊 Analysis
The first round highlighted both progress and challenges for Arab teams, showing competitiveness but also exposing gaps in experience and consistency at the highest level.
🔮 Outlook
With more matches ahead, Arab teams still have opportunities to recover and fight for qualification under the expanded World Cup format.
🏁 Conclusion
The opening round set the tone for an exciting journey, with Arab teams showing flashes of quality but needing stronger consistency moving forward ⚽🔥.
Al Ahly suffered a blow ahead of its Egyptian Premier League clash with ZED after Mohamed Magdy Afsha was ruled out due to adductor muscle pain, with the coaching staff avoiding any risk of aggravating the injury.
The Referees Committee has announced the officials for Al Ahly’s match against ZED in the second round of the Egyptian Premier League, with Mohamed Maarouf appointed as the referee.
Al Ittihad Alexandria announced its squad for the Ceramica Cleopatra clash in the second round of the Egyptian Premier League, aiming to secure its first victory after drawing with Zamalek in the opening round.
Egypt’s U18 women’s volleyball team continued its impressive campaign at the Arab Championship in Jordan after defeating Palestine 3-0, moving closer to the gold medal before facing Algeria.
