The Egyptian national team imposes a draw on “El Matador” in Barcelona

The Egyptian national team held a goalless draw against Spain, the European champion, in the friendly match held at the Cornea el Prat stadium in the Spanish city of Barcelona on Tuesday, as part of the teams’ preparations to participate in the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The match was scheduled to be held in the Qatari capital, Doha, within the framework of the Qatar Football Festival, which was canceled due to the current situation in the Middle East, so the two teams agreed to hold it in Barcelona.

The Egyptian national team completed the match with ten players after Hamdi Fathi was sent off in the 84th minute for receiving a second warning. Goalkeeper Mustafa Schubert and the Pharaohs’ defense excelled in repelling the Spanish team’s attempts, especially in the second half.

The Egyptian national team had won in a friendly match over Saudi Arabia 4-0 in Jeddah on Friday, with coach Hossam Hassan concluding the March international break with a valuable draw with the European champion and top FIFA world ranking.

The two teams agreed before the match that the changes would be open to a maximum of 11 players to give the largest number of players the opportunity to participate.

Mohamed Salah, captain of the “Pharaohs” and Liverpool’s English star, continued to be absent due to injury. Hossam Hassan fielded the same formation that started the Saudi Arabia match, with one change, with Muhannad Lashin entering the midfield instead of Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet.”

Muhannad Lashin almost surprised those present with an early goal in the second minute when he tried to exploit goalkeeper David Raya’s mistake to clear the ball, but the English Arsenal goalkeeper corrected his mistake and caught Lashin’s shot from midfield.

The Spanish team dominated, but without any real threat to Mustafa Schubert’s goal. The most dangerous opportunity came in the 29th minute, when Ahmed Sayed “Zizou” and Imam Ashour exchanged the ball, which reached Omar Marmoush, who shot a powerful ball that bounced off the right post of the Spanish goal in the most prominent opportunity for the “Pharaohs.”

The most notable attempt by the Spanish national team was when Dani Olmo passed a through ball to Grimaldo inside the penalty area from the left side, sending a ground cross that was cleared by Hamdi Fathi at the last minute.

At the beginning of the second half, the Spanish team made 4 changes, with Pedri, Rodri, Victor Muñoz and Fermin Lopes replacing Carlos Soler, Gamal, Pablo Fornals and Dani Olmo, while Hossam Hassan brought in Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet” instead of Emam Ashour.

Schubert brilliantly blocked Fermin Lopes’ attempt in the 53rd minute when he received Pedri’s pass to go one-on-one on goal, but the Pharaohs’ goalkeeper cleared the ball for a corner kick.

Schubert returned to shine a minute later in front of Pedri’s shot from close range, and in the 57th minute he continued his creativity when he once again blocked Pedri’s shot completely alone.

The Spanish team pressed hard in pursuit of progress, and its coach Luis de la Fuente brought in goalkeeper Juan Garcia and Borja Iglesias instead of Raya and Torres (61), while Hossam Hassan brought in Haitham Hassan instead of Islam Issa (68). Then Jeremi Beno came on for Ander Barenechea (73rd) and Mahmoud Saber for Zizou (82nd).

In the 84th minute, referee Hamdi Fathi was sent off for receiving a second warning, and Hossam Hassan brought on Hossam Abdel Majeed instead of Marmoush.

Grimaldo fired a powerful shot from the free kick, which was blocked by Schubert and bounced off the crossbar.

The Pharaohs will conclude their preparations for the World Cup by facing Brazil in Cleveland, USA, on June 6.

The team director, Ibrahim Hassan, had revealed that the Egyptian Football Association is seeking to organize another friendly match at Misr Stadium in the New Administrative Capital before leaving for the United States and participating in the World Cup in Group 7, which includes, with Egypt, Belgium, New Zealand, and Iran.

Spain plays in Group Eight alongside Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Cape Verde.