Egypt achieved their first-ever World Cup knockout stage win after Australia’s tactical gamble of bringing on goalkeeper Mat Ryan solely for the penalty shootout failed to deliver the desired outcome.

Ryan replaced Patrick Beach with just 90 seconds of normal time left on the clock, as part of a pre-planned strategy. However, the former Brighton shot-stopper failed to anticipate any of Egypt’s spot-kicks correctly, allowing the North African side to triumph 4-2 in the shootout.

The switch appeared particularly cruel on Beach, who had produced a superb late save to deny Ramy Rabia and keep Australia in contention. His efforts ultimately went unrewarded when Harry Souttar blazed Australia’s first penalty over the bar and 18-year-old Lucas Herrington struck the crossbar.

Egypt were flawless from the spot, converting all four of their attempts. Mohamed Salah sealed the win with a composed chip down the centre, marking Egypt’s first-ever penalty shootout victory in five World Cup attempts.

Emam Ashour had opened the scoring in the 13th minute. After his initial free-kick was blocked, he reacted quickly to head the rebound low past Beach’s right-hand post, registering Egypt’s maiden goal in a World Cup knockout fixture.

Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush nearly doubled the lead shortly after the restart, his strike missing the target by inches. Egypt continued to threaten until Rabia’s late header was denied by Beach’s outstretched hand.

By that stage, Australia had drawn level. Defender Mohamed Hany, who had earlier suffered a blow to the head, inadvertently diverted Aiden O’Neill’s curling free-kick into his own net.

Hany thus became only the second player in World Cup history—after Bulgaria’s Ivan Vutsov in 1966—to score two own goals in the same tournament. It was also the 13th own goal of this World Cup, setting a new record.

After the match, Salah spoke about the pressure he felt as Egypt’s senior figure, revealing that his decision on how to take the decisive penalty came at the last moment. “I decided at the last minute. I don’t know if this is my last World Cup, so I had to do it,” he told BBC One.

Reflecting on the significance of the result, he added, “It’s history. I told the boys before the match that this is the biggest stage you can ever play on in your life.”