SEATTLE, United States (AFP) — Belgium and Egypt drew 1-1 in their World Cup opener on Monday after a second-half Belgian equaliser spoiled Mohamed Salah’s 34th birthday.

Emam Ashour opened the scoring early in the first half in Seattle, before Romelu Lukaku came off the bench after the hour to force Egypt’s Mohamed Hany into an own goal.

With the draw, seven-time Africa Cup of Nations champions Egypt’s wait for a first victory at a World Cup goes on.

This is their fourth participation in the global showpiece and with Group G fixtures to come against Iran and New Zealand, they will hope to break that hoodoo in North America.

“We know Belgium are a good team, [they have] good quality players but we can’t say it was the hardest game or easiest game. Every game for us has got to be three points,” Egypt’s 18-year-old Barcelona forward Hamza Abdelkarim said.

For Belgium, who are now without a win in their last three World Cup matches going back to their group stage exit in 2022, this tournament is likely the last chance for the remnants of their golden generation to better their third-place finish in Russia eight years ago and finally win silverware.

Veterans Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Lukaku are the main protagonists of that group still involved in Rudi Garcia’s squad.

“The opening match of a competition like the World Cup is always a tough one, especially against one of Africa’s top teams,” Garcia said.

“We managed to equalize thanks to a player who came off the bench, which shows just how important the whole squad is.”

With all eyes in the Pacific Northwest on Salah and De Bruyne, it was the ex-Manchester City playmaker that created the first moment of note in the match when he dragged a sharp effort narrowly wide in the seventh minute.

However, it was Ashour who upstaged the pair just before the hydration break when he received the ball in a similar position to De Bruyne but his sweetly-struck effort left Courtois no chance as it whistled into the bottom-right corner.

It was just the second time in their history that Egypt had taken the lead in a World Cup match — after Salah opened the scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in 2018.

De Bruyne came within inches of levelling early in the second period when he whipped a close-range free-kick over the Egyptian wall, only to see it rocket off the outside of the post.

Salah responded at the other end as he ghosted into the box but had his downward header punched away by Courtois, with Ashour getting his follow-up effort all wrong.

The match became stretched as both sides came close on a couple of occasions, including a screaming left-footed volley by Belgian Captain Youri Tielemans.

With 65 minutes gone, Garcia decided to send on Lukaku.

The change immediately paid dividends as Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer showed his predatory instincts to dash in on a Thomas Meunier cross, with his presence enough to destabilise Hany who put through his own net.

Salah departed the field with 15 minutes remaining as Egypt sought to shut up shop and ultimately held out for a point.