England Vs. Egypt: The History

England welcome Egypt to Wembley on Wednesday night for their first fixture of 2010.

Fabio Capello will send his Three Lions team out for the first time in just under four months against the North African side who retained their African Cup of Nations title for the third consecutive time earlier this year.

That success in Angola in January saw Egypt rise to 10th place in the FIFA World Rankings, their highest ever position since the rankings were introduced in the early 1990’s as they became only the second ever African side to break into the Top-10.

However, their World Cup Qualifying campaign ended in tears at the very final hurdle as they were defeated 1-0 by arch-rivals Algeria in a play-off match last November.

By a quirk of fate the World Cup draw saw Algeria drawn in the same group as England and the Three Lions organised this friendly against Egypt in order to prepare for facing their North African neighbours.

Wednesday night’s match will only be the third between the two countries and the first to be played in England.

The sides first encountered one another in a friendly match in Cairo in January 1986.

Lead by Bobby Robson, England triumphed with a comfortable 4-0 win with Trevor Steven, an Omar own-goal, Danny Wallace and Gordon Cowans all finding the net.

Four years later and the two sides clashed again, this time at the World Cup in Italy, with only three players (Peter Shilton, Mark Wright and Gary Lineker) having kept their places from that previous friendly.

The match was England’s third and final game of the initial group stage and they entered the game needing a win to guarantee their progression having drawn their first two games against the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

In a close game played in Cagliari the Three Lions eventually edged home with a 1-0 win, thanks to a goal from Mark Wright who rose highest to head home from a Paul Gascoigne free-kick.

It would prove to be Wright’s only ever goal for England and it was a vital one which earned them the three points and top spot in a tight group.

England went on to progress to the semi-finals before succumbing to West Germany in a penalty shoot-out, eventually finishing in fourth place in what remains their best ever performance at a World Cup since 1966.

England’s overall record vs. Egypt

P2        W2       D0        L0         F5        A0