Mohamed Salah's Egypt could have secured World Cup qualification on Tuesday with a win, only to fail to score for the first time in their group
Egypt missed the chance to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup by drawing 0-0 in Burkina Faso, where victory would have sealed the Pharaohs' progress with two games left to play.
Bidding to join North African rivals Morocco and Tunisia in qualifying early for the finals, Egypt thought they had broken the deadlock in a tight game after 66 minutes only for Osama Faisal's goal to be ruled offside.
In a game of few chances in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou, the substitute swept home captain and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah's knockdown only for the flag to instantly rise.
Egypt's hopes were hampered by an early injury to Omar Marmoush, which will worry Manchester City with the forward hobbling off after just nine minutes and a Manchester derby in the Premier League next for his club on Sunday.
Both Marmoush and Salah, who had one of his quieter games, had scored first-half penalties on Friday as Egypt beat Ethiopia 2-0 in Cairo to set up the chance to qualify against the Burkinabe but the Pharaohs seldom threatened from open play once again.
In fact, they failed to score for the first time in Group A despite fielding both Salah and Trezeguet, who have scored 12 of Egypt's 16 qualifying goals, with the former Aston Villa man registering the game's only two shots on target.
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Burkina Faso cling on to slender hopes
After keeping their hopes of reaching a first World Cup alive, the Stallions - the only side that can stop Egypt from qualifying outright - remain five points behind the group leaders.
Playing at home for the first time in this qualifying campaign following the refurbishment of their national stadium, Burkina Faso went close from headers in each half – with Edmond Tapsoba bouncing one just over in the first half, before Dango Ouattara also failed to hit the target late on.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan had hoped to celebrate qualification in a stadium where he has fine memories, having captained the Pharaohs to Africa Cup of Nations glory there in 1998, but instead he saw his side drop points for only the second time in the group.
Burkina Faso must beat Sierra Leone and Ethiopia next month to have any chance of qualifying for the World Cup outright, but this scenario appears slim given that Egypt would also need to lose against two of the group's bottom three sides, Djibouti and Guinea-Bissau.
Despite winning a record seven Africa Cup of Nations titles, Egypt have struggled to replicate their continental form in World Cup qualifying over the years - having appeared at football's greatest event on just three occasions, in 1934, 1990 and 2018.
