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Egypt start their World Cup preparations with a friendly against Russia at the Misr Stadium in Cairo on Thursday night.
The Pharaohs have been drawn in Group G alongside Belgium, Iran and New Zealand, and will be hoping to qualify from the group stage into the knockouts.
Russia have been banned from participating in international tournaments like the World Cup since 2022 after their invasion of Ukraine, but are still permitted to play friendly matches like this one.
Read our prediction, preview and betting tips for the game below, and make sure to check out our today's betting tips page for more of our expert predictions.
Egypt vs. Russia key stats
- Egypt have won their last four friendlies on home soil.
- Russia have won just once in their previous four outings (D2, L1).
- BTTS has not come through in any of Egypt's last four games in all competitions.
Egypt vs. Russia preview: Pharaohs to fire to victory?
| Egypt | vs | Russia |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | FIFA Ranking | 36 |
| Mohamed Salah (116) | Most Caps | Aleksandr Golovin (52) |
| Mohamed Salah (67) | Most Goals | Aleksei Miranchuk (10) |
| 706 | Total Caps | 360 |
| 124 | Total Goals | 57 |
| 5 | Uncapped Players | 3 |
Egypt are preparing to play at their fourth World Cup, having last qualified in 2018.
Like every other African nation, the Pharaohs have never won the tournament, and in fact they have never got past the group stage, having never actually won a game at a World Cup.
They will be hoping to change that this summer, and will fancy their chances against the likes of New Zealand especially, who are the lowest-ranked nation in their group and in the entire tournament (85th).
Hossam Hassan's squad is headlined by star player and captain Mohamed Salah as well as Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush, but it remains to be seen how much they will feature in this friendly with the Premier League only finishing four days prior.
Russia's squad mostly features players playing in their home country, but one who is not is captain Aleksandr Golovin, who boasts the most caps in the current squad (52) and plays his club football at Monaco in Ligue 1.
Banned from playing in international tournaments, there is only so much Valery Karpin can do with his side, but he can at least test out his squad in friendlies.
Recent results have been a mixed bag, although they did beat Egypt 3-1 in their only prior meeting, at the 2018 World Cup on home soil.
However, Russia will be underdogs this time around in Cairo, as they rank seven places below their opponents in the FIFA world rankings.
Egypt vs. Russia form guide & betting tips
| Egypt | vs | Russia |
|---|---|---|
WLLWD |
Form | WDLWD |
| 7 | Goals For | 7 |
| 3 | Goals Against | 4 |
WWD |
Friendlies | LWD |
Whispers predicts: Egypt 2-0 Russia
Egypt are actually seen as the slight underdogs by bookies for this one, but given home advantage and the fact they will want to put in a good performance with the World Cup just a couple of weeks away, we are backing Egypt to win at 2/1 (3.00).
BTTS has not come through in any of the Pharaohs' last four matches across all competitions, so BTTS – No at 1/1 (2.00) is also worth a bet in our eyes.
With that in mind, we are also not expecting too many goals, with an average of just two and 2.2 scored in total in each nations' previous five outings.
Under 2.5 goals at 1/1 (2.00) is therefore our final pick, while our scoreline prediction of 2-0 to Egypt is available at 12/1 (13.00).
> BTTS – No at 1/1 (2.00) | Likelihood: Probable
> Under 2.5 goals at 1/1 (2.00) | Likelihood: Probable
> Egypt to win at 2/1 (3.00) | Likelihood: Possible