Lukaku, Salah, Belgium, Egypt, red fans-create smashing Seattle World Cup debut
The Belgians know how to party. At 8 a.m. On a Monday.
That’s what they were doing at Victory Hall and the Hatback Bar & Grille across from T-Mobile Park. Four hours before kickoff of the first World Cup match ever in Seattle, techno dance music blared from speakers at “The House of the Devils.”
That’s what Victory Hall and the Hatback became for the thousands of fans of the “Red Devils,” for Belgium’s opening World Cup match against Egypt Monday.
The party blared for hours as the Seattle Police Department erected white, metal barricades across 1st Avenue South in front of them.
Before noon, the Belgians’ bash moved a couple blocks north into Lumen Fiel...er, “Seattle Stadium,” as FIFA mandates it be called throughout the six matches inside it through July 6.
You know, rights holders, and all.
The first-ever World Cup match day in Seattle was a roaring, sweaty, captivating success. A heat advisory and temperatures reaching 87 degrees, and hotter on the temporary grass pitch, kept the atmosphere pulsing through the entertaining match.
“It was warm,” Belgium defender Brandon Mechele said in the mixed zone for interviews after the match.
The players on both sides praised Seattle and the environment in the stadium Monday. It was just about packed. Official attendance was 66,775, a couple hundred short of the stadium’s World Cup capcity.
“It was good. Before the game, after the game, and during the game,” Belgium captain and midfielder Youri Tielemans said in the mixed zone for interviews following the match. “It was really good. We had fans from both sides making some noise. It was great.”
Belgium’s team base has been in the Seattle area. The Red Devils have been training at the Sounders’ facility in Renton.
“Very good so far,” Tielemans said. “We’ve been here a week. Couldn’t wait for the game, which is the most important for us. But, yeah, now that the first game has gone on we can move onto the next one.”
Entering the World Cup some European football analysts believed the temporary grass field laid on a 14-inch platform over the Seahawks’ and Sounders’ artificial turf would be a lesser-quality pitch. They feared it would be dry and not allow teams to ping the ball around with quick passes over hearty grass as in Europe’s natural fields.
Tielemans says Seattle’s field passed its first test. He believed despite the sun and 87-degree heat, the sprinklers coming on during the 3-minute hydration breaks midway through each 45-minute half FIFA is mandating at this World Cup helped keep the pitch fast Monday.
“The quality was really good, to be fair,” Belgium’s captain said. “Obviously with the sun, it dries out very quickly. But I think the cooling breaks helped to water the pitch a little bit.
“Obviously the sun dries it out a little bit. But overall, happy.”
Seattle’s next: U.S.-Australia
For those wondering if waiting until the day of the match would result in being able to score lower-priced tickets in a secondary, online market that had cratered: No such luck.
The get-in price for the opener remained what it had been most of this month: $500 and up. Within an hour of the noon kickoff, the online-ticket websites were no longer selling tickets.
That’s a public-service announcement for those looking to get into the U.S.-Australia match in Seattle Friday. Last-minute deals may not be available. And tickets of any price may go off the market sooner than you may expect.
As of Monday afternoon, tickets online for the U.S.-Australia match Friday had nearly doubled from a get-in price of $1,100 each to $2,000-plus. That’s after the Americans’ encouraging, 4-1 rout of Paraguay in their opening match in Los Angeles Friday, and the Australians’ upset win over Turkey in Vancouver Saturday.
Monday, it was mostly jammed inside Seattle’s home of the NFL Seahawks, MLS Sounders and NWSL Reign.
And it was mostly red. Fans of the Belgians’ “Red Devils” and of Egypt’s red-clad “Pharaohs” had the tableau across the stadium matching the red-hot sun on the pitch and stands.
Women in Belgian’s signature red-and-goal jerseys were wearing yellow-and-red devil horns atop their heads.
About 45 minutes before kickoff Mariners Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Bryan Woo were on the pitch.
The baseball stars were not wearing devils atop their heads.
Kids walked beside each Belgium and Egypt player as the teams came out from their locker rooms onto the pitch for the national anthems, then kickoff exactly at noon.
Belgium rallies
In the 19th minute, Emam Ashour took a pass from Egypt star Mohamed Salah. Ashour cut across the middle of the penalty box to his left. Thibaut Courtois, Belgium’s 34-year-old goalkeeper dived but had no chance to stop Ashour’s perfectly-placed strike into the back, left corner of the net for the 28-year old’s first international goal. After he scored, his Egyptian teammates attacked Ashour and tackled him like they were playing on this field for the Seahawks.
Belgium lost its best chance to score in the half when Leandro Troussard 39th whiffed in the box on a one-time attempt at a shot on the cross. Then in the 43rd minute star Kevin De Bruyne shot into his own man from outside the penalty area. When the first half ended, Egypt’s players on the field knelt and kissed the grass pitch.
By early in the second half, it was the Belgians who were thankful.
Moments after halftime, De Bruyne sent a free-kick over Egypt’s defensive wall from distance, off the left post and out. The Pharaohs’ lead remained 1-0, barely.
Also early in the second half: Belgium brought Romelu Lukaku off it bench, in the 66th minute. His nation’s all-time leading scorer then did it again. Immediately.
In the same minute he entered, the veteran striker from Napoli in Italy’s Serie A split two defenders in front of the net to force the ball off Egypt’s Mohamed Hany and into the net.
The Belgians who made up about two-thirds of the crowd erupted in cheers.
The enthralling match that had the packed house oohing and ahhing through see-sawing chances was tied at 1.
That’s how it ended, after Egypt keeper Mostafa Shoubir parried a Belgian shot from distance away to his left past the far post late to keep the match tied.
At one point in the second half, Salah lined up to take a corner kick in the southwest nook of the stadium. It was his 34th birthday. A young woman low in section 129 screamed “Happy BIRTHDAY!” to the superstar
After Belgium cleared Salarh’s corner out of the penalty area, another woman lower in 129, wearing a Belgium red jersey, screamed about the Liverpool English Premier League star: “I CAN’T BELIEVE HE WAS RIGHT HERE!”
As they rallied, the Belgians kept the dynamic Salah mostly in check. That was Belgium’s first priority, and it worked.
“Yeah, that was the plan,” Tielemans said. “We tried to block their transition game. Some moments they came through it; they had some chances in transition. We know we can do better.” Both Belgium and Egypt will take the one point in the standings of a group they expect to be the top two of by the end of next week. New Zealand and Iran are the others in what is considered one of this World Cup’s weaker groups.
The top two teams in each of 12 groups, plus the eight best third-place group finishers, advance to the knockout round of 32.
Shoubir said he and his teammates were already looking forward to Egypt’s final match inside Group G, June 26 against Iran back here in Lumen Field.
“It’s a very good city. We like the city a lot,” Shoubir said. “We are excited that we got to play here in Seattle.
“And we are going to play the third game here. So I will see you again.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Lukaku, Salah, Belgium, Egypt, red fans-create smashing Seattle World Cup debut."
