Spain ended their March worldwide break with a disappointing 0-0 draw at residence to Egypt, who completed the pleasant with 10 males.
Having swept apart Serbia 3-0 on Friday, Luis de la Fuente was left annoyed by the follow-up efficiency 4 days later after a profligate displaying from the hosts at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium.
The European champions had the primary sight at aim with quarter-hour on the clock, however Dani Olmo fired straight at Mostafa Shobeir, earlier than Mohanad Lasheen’s last-ditch block denied Ferran Torres quickly after.
Nevertheless, it was Egypt who virtually took the lead on the half-hour mark when Omar Marmoush let fly from vary, just for the within of David Raya’s publish to fortuitously spare Spain’s blushes.
Fermin Lopez ought to then have despatched Spain forward early into the second half, however his mazy run culminated in a superb save from Shobeir after the Barcelona man linked up with fellow half-time substitute Victor Munoz.
Pedri and Torres handed up additional possibilities shortly after Lopez’s effort, whereas Borja Iglesias headed huge when discovered by Alejandro Grimaldo’s pleasant supply from the left-hand facet.
Iglesias adopted up that header with a cute dink over Shobeir that fell the unsuitable facet of the crossbar, after which the Spain striker was hacked down by Hamdi Fathy to obtain his second yellow card and marching orders with six minutes remaining.
Grimaldo virtually capitalised on the one-man benefit, however his free-kick was expertly parried onto the crossbar by Shobeir because the hosts failed to show their dominance into victory.
6’#VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/2VePy0iidU
— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) March 31, 2026
Knowledge Debrief: Profligate Spain
Spain had greater than six occasions as many pictures as Egypt (26 to 4), because the hosts gathered an enormous 2.35 anticipated objectives (xG) to their guests’ 0.13.
However the Euro 2024 winners might discover no well past the superb Shobeir, who made six saves and may take a lot of the approval for a resilient defensive efficiency.
And this can go down as a memorable outcome for Egypt, given Spain had gained 12 of their earlier 16 matches towards African groups in all competitions (D2 L2) earlier than this draw.
