Spain 0-0 Egypt: European champions held after profligate friendly showing

Spain ended their March international break with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Egypt, who finished the friendly with 10 men.

Having swept aside Serbia 3-0 on Friday, Luis de la Fuente was left frustrated by the follow-up performance four days later after a profligate showing from the hosts at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium.

The European champions had the first sight at goal with 15 minutes on the clock, but Dani Olmo fired straight at Mostafa Shobeir, before Mohanad Lasheen’s last-ditch block denied Ferran Torres soon after.

However, it was Egypt who almost took the lead on the half-hour mark when Omar Marmoush let fly from range, only for the inside of David Raya’s post to fortuitously spare Spain’s blushes.

Fermin Lopez should then have sent Spain ahead early into the second half, but his mazy run culminated in a fine save from Shobeir after the Barcelona man linked up with fellow half-time substitute Victor Munoz.

Pedri and Torres passed up further chances shortly after Lopez’s effort, while Borja Iglesias headed wide when found by Alejandro Grimaldo’s delightful delivery from the left-hand side.

Iglesias followed up that header with a cute dink over Shobeir that fell the wrong side of the crossbar, and then the Spain striker was hacked down by Hamdi Fathy to receive his second yellow card and marching orders with six minutes remaining.

Grimaldo almost capitalised on the one-man advantage, but his free-kick was expertly parried onto the crossbar by Shobeir as the hosts failed to turn their dominance into victory.

6’#VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/2VePy0iidU

— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) March 31, 2026

Data Debrief: Profligate Spain

Spain had more than six times as many shots as Egypt (26 to 4), as the hosts accumulated a massive 2.35 expected goals (xG) to their visitors’ 0.13.

But the Euro 2024 winners could find no way past the excellent Shobeir, who made six saves and should take much of the acclaim for a resilient defensive performance.

And this will go down as a memorable result for Egypt, given Spain had won 12 of their previous 16 matches against African teams in all competitions (D2 L2) before this draw.