Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt: World Cup 2018 – as it happened

Rate! Rate! Rate! Our player ratings for this match go up to 10. With perhaps a couple of notable exceptions, I expect the numbers from seven to 10 to be fairly redundant.

What it all means: Uruguay’s win over Russia means the South Americans finish top of Group A, ahead of Russia. Saudi Arabia finish third in the group, ahead of Egypt.

90+3 min: Egypt break forward, but a cross from deep to the far post just bounces harmlessly out of play. Both sides must be capable of better than this, because the quality on show in this second half has been truly risible.

90+2 min: There’ll be four minutes of added time. Why, ref? Why?!?

88 min: Egypt attack down the right flank, looking for that elusive winner. The ball’s crossed into the penalty area, where Osama Hawsawi pokes clear. Handy tip: if you decide to watch the highlights, such as they are, of this match later, you’ll be well served by quitting at half-time. Meanwhile in the Samara Arena, Uruguay have beaten Russia 3-0 to tee up a juicy Last 16 encounter between themselves and Spain or Portugal.

88 min: Hussain Al Mogahwi tries a volley on the spin from inside the Egypt penalty area, but fires over the bar.

82 min: Fathi is booked for a foul on Al Shaahran.

84 min: Mo Salah is played in a behind again and with only the goalkeeper to beat, shoots straight at Yasser Almosailem from about 10 yards. Good save. There was a clear offside in the build-up which the men in VAR Towers may have drawn to the referee’s attention if Salah had scored.

81 min: Egypt substitution: Kahraba on for Trezeguet. Saudi Arabia substitution: Yahya Al Shehri on for Fahad Al Mulwallad.

79 min: Saudi Arabia win a free-kick about 35 yards from the Egypt goal. Mohamed Alburayk hammers the ball straight into the wall.

75 min: Egypt attack on the break and Mo Salah beats two men before running into a third on the edge of the Saudi penalty area. A poor touch did for him on that occasion. Egypt win themselves a corner and the delivery is staggeringly bad. This match is dying a slow death and watching it is turning into quite the ordeal.

73 min: Free-kick for Saudi Arabia about 30 yards from Egypt’s goal, dead centre. Al Faraj takes it and sends the ball sailing high over the bar.

72 min: A clever dummy from Mo Salah and the ball runs through for Mohamed Elneny from the edge of the penalty area. High and wide.

70 min: From the corner, Asiri gives Tarek Hamed the slip and brings another good save out of Elhadary with a meaty header.

68 min: Salman Al-Faraj curls a lovely cross into the path of Hussain Al Mogahwi, whose firm header looks goal-bound. Essam Elhadary saves well, tipping the ball over the bar in theatrical style.

65 min: Egypt substitution: Ramadan Sobhi, formerly of Stoke and now a Huddersfield Town recruit, on for Marwan Mohsen. Saudi Arabia substitution: Asiri on for Bahebri.

63 min: Another ball in behind from Egypt for Mo Salah to chase. Almosailem is quick off his line in the Saudi goal to avert the danger.

60 min: Good tracking and an excellent covering tackle from Egypt’s Gabr on Salman. Saudi Arabia win a throw-in deep in Egypt territory. Nothing comes of it and Egypt get a goal-kick.

58 min: Trezeguet shoots high over the bar again. You can’t fault him for effort or willing, but his finishing has been dreadful today.

57 min: A hopeful ball into the box from Egypt. Trezeguet leaps and sends a powerful header about a foot wide, before sinking to his knees with an anguished look.

55 min: Al Faraj drags Salman to ground down near the flag and Egypt win a free-kick that might as well be a corner. Mo Salah drives it in low and fails to clear the first man. He’ll be disappointed with that, Clive.

53 min: Saudi Arabia continue to dominate possession but look a little short of ideas on how best to use it. This is unlikely to go down as one of this World Cup’s better encounters, although I’d be delighted to be proved wrong over the next half hour or so.

49 min: Saudi Arabia are dominating the early stages of this second half. As things stand, they’ll finish bottom of the group on goal difference, behind Egypt. They win a corner, which Al Faraj takes long. Warda clears. He replaced El Said in the Egyptian ranks near the end of the first half, I’m told.

47 min: Saudi Arabia get forward and Hattan Bahebri shoots weakly at Essam Elhadary from a tight angle.

Half-time admin: Ali Gabr was booked was booked for the tug on Al Mulwallad that gave Saudi Arabia their second penalty of the game.

45+4 min: Perez is consulting his screen on the sideline, presumably on the recommendation of the VAR officials. He’s taken three minutes so far but he’s sticking with his verdict. Penalty for Saudi Arabia.

45 min: We’ll have three minutes of added time. Elhadary is fit to resume play for Egypt.

43 min: That’s a great save from Elhadary and he appears to have hurt himself him making it. He’s currently down getting treatment. Truth be told, it was a harsh decision to award the spot-kick in the first place. Al Sharahani was crossing from the left and the ball hit the trailing arm of full-back Ahmed Fathi, who was running back to block. Did the ball hit his hand? Yes. Was there any intent or awareness? None whatsoever. Nevertheless, Wilmar Perez blew his whistle and pointed to the spot and the lads in VAR Towers chose not to overturn the decision.

36 min: Salman Al-Faraj is pulled up with a pull-back from the byline and unleashes a rasping drive. Ahmed Hegazi blocks his shot and the ball goes out for a corner. Nothing comes of it.

35 min: Trezeguet (aka Mahmoud Hassan) goers close again, curling the ball narrowly wide of the far post again.

33 min: Salah and Treziguet combine beautifully outside the Saudi penalty area and the latter tees up the former with an insouciant flick of his foot. From distance, Treziguet proceeds to curl a decent effort narrowly high and wide of the angle of post and crossbar.

31 min: Ahmed Faithi puts the ball out for a Saudi corner. The out-swinger drops deep for Hussain Al Mogahwi at the back post. He passes to Yasser Al Shaarani, who shoots high over the bar.

28 min: Egypt win a free kick in a good position, which Said Abdalla curls into the Saudi penalty area. Rather unconvincingly, Almosailem punches clear when he could have just caught the ball.

28 min: Meanwhile at the Samara Arena, Uruguay have taken a two-goal lead over Russia and look like they’ll be topping the group. You can follow that one with Jacob Steinberg.

25 min: Salah misses a glorious chance to put his team two up. Put through on goal one-on-one with Yasser Almosailem once again, he chip the ball over the keeper once again, but can only watch in horror as it bounces wide of the right upright. Most Liverpool fans would have put the farm on their Egyptian superstar scoring that one.

23 min: That was a wonderful finish from Salah, who sprinted between two defenders to latch on to a long, bouncing ball from deep. He controlls the ball beautifully with his first two touches before lifting it over the onrushing goalkeeper with his third. He wheels away in celebration as the ball bounces into the net. The delivery from Said Abdalla was superb too.

20 min: Mo Salah is flagged for offside after getting in behind the Saudi defence to chase a nicely weighted through-ball. Motaz Hawsawi got the better of him again, stepping forward to ensure Salah was caught offside on the back of his mistimed run.

18 min: Mo Salah turns on his afterburners and gallops down the right touchline after a long ball. Motaz Hasawi pulls off the impressive feat of beating Mo for speed and plays the ball back to his goalkeeper. Good defending.

17 min: On ITV, Iain Dowie is on co-comms and it is his belief that Egypt are playing too defensively. He suggests they move one of their sitting midfielders, Mohamed Elneny or Tark Ahmed, further up the pitch.

16 min: Good play from Salem Al Dawsari, who goes on a mazy run from halfway before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area. After all his hard work it’s a lame effort and the Saudi Arabia man blast the ball high over the bar.

13 min: THere’s a break in play as Marwan Mohsen changes his boots after kicking the ground behind the ball – rather than the ball itself – as he attempted a shot on goal. That’s quite a miscue.

11 min: Saudi Arabia continue to dominate, but there’s not much in it. Salem Al Dawsari tries a shot from distance but his effort is high and wide of Essam Elhadary’s goal.

10 min: Meanwhile at the Samara Arena, Uruguay have gone a goal up against Russia courtesy of a Luis Suarez free-kick.

9 min: Salman Al Faraj sends in an outswinger, which Ahmed Hegazi thumps clear with a powerful header.

7 min: Fairly scrappy stuff so far between two poor quality teams struggling to find their rhythm. The Saudi’s attack down the left flank with Salem Al Dawsari on the ball, cutting inside. The ball’s crossed and Ahmed Hegazi heads it out for the first corner of the game.

5 min: Saudi Arabia attack through the centre and Hattan Behebri tries to prod the ball in behind the Egypt defence for Fahad Al Mulwallad to chase. He mistimes his pass and a promising looking attack breaks down.

4 min: Egypt attack down the right flank with Mo Salah on the ball. He attempts to send a cross towards Treziguet at the far post, but his delivery is poor. Saudi Arabia clear.

2 min: Saudi Arabia start on the front foot, getting forward into Egypt territory with right-back Mohammed Alburayk on the ball in Egypt territory. He plays the ball up the line and Egypt clear their lines.

Not long now: The teams emerge from the tunnel moments after I realise I had originally listed this match as being played at the Samara Arena, rather than its equivalent in Volgograd. It’s a good job I’m writing this report from a minute-by-minute bunker in London. We’re just one Egyptian national anthem and a coin-toss from kick-off.

Saudi Arabia: Al-Mosailem, Al-Breik, Osama Hawsawi, Motaz Hawsawi, Al-Shahrani, Bahbir, Al-Faraj, Otayf, Al-Moqahwi, Al Dawsari, Al-Muwallad.

Subs: Al-Muaiouf, Al-Harbi, Al-Shehri, Al-Sahlawi, Al-Khaibri, Kanno, Al-Khaibari, Asiri, Al-Owais.

Egypt: El Hadary, Fathi, Gabr, Hegazi, Abdel-Shafy, Elneny, Hamed, Salah, Said, Trezeguet, Mohsen.

Subs: Elmohamady, Morsy, Kahraba, Ashraf, Sobhi, Hamdy, Shikabala, Samir, Warda, El Shenawy.

Referee: Wilmar Roldan Perez (Colombia)

This just in: Egypt have apologised for an incorrect team sheet which appeared to leave Liverpool star Mohamed Salah out of their starting line-up to face Saudi Arabia. Salah has been struggling with a shoulder injury suffered in the Champions League final in May and is also reported to be considering quitting international football due to his unhappiness at being used for political ends by the federation and politicians in Chechnya, where the team have been based.

But his omission appears to have been nothing more than human error, with an apology being issued after the original team sheet included Amr Warda instead of Salah. Goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, 45, was included and will become the oldest player ever to feature in a World Cup finals. We’ll have the full line-ups for just as soon as the Egyptian officials correct their clerical error. PA Sport.

You want added needle? Of course you do. While there may be nothing more than pride at stake today, there’s plenty of that exact commodity to play for. This is the first ever all-Arab derby at the World Cup finals, although a good lawyer might argue that Saudi Arabia’s matches against Morocco (1994) and Tunisia (2006) fit that particular bill.

A potential record-breaker: Should he feature at an point today, Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary will become the oldest player in World Cup history at 45 years and 161 days old. The record is currently held by former Colombia goalkeeper, Faryd Mondragon, who played at Brazil 2014 as a 43-year-old. Former Cameroon striker Roger Milla was the record-holder before Mondragon, having played at USA 94 when he was 42. Northern Ireland’s Pat Jennings, England’s Peter Shilton and Italy’s Dino Zoff have all kept goal in the World Cup aged 40 or over. Zoff is the oldest player ever to win the World Cup, having skippered Italy to victory at Spain 1982 when he was 40.

Our Experts’ Network: Commissioned and published before the tournament started, events may have overtaken our informative and insightful team profiles, but they remain a handy pointer to what we can expect from both teams.