It was heartbreak for Egypt as Uruguay snatched a late winner to edge out the African nation in the group A encounter at Ekaterinburg Arena in the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
Jose Gimenez headed home the winner in the 90th minute through a header off Carlos Andrés Sánchez free-kick as two-time champions Uruguay won their first match of a World Cup for the first time since 1970.
Egypt suffered an early blow as talismanic striker Mohamed Salah was left out of the starting XI, but they held their own against a full-strength Uruguay for much of the game. Uruguay mounted pressure in the final minutes of the game, but Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed E-Shenaway and bad luck kept them at bay before Gimenez broke the deadlock.
The first half ended goalless as Uruguay's star strikers Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani found it impossible to penetrate the Egyptian defence. Suarez had the best chance, but his close-range shot found the side-netting as a disappointing Uruguay struggled to live up to their billing as group favourites.
Suarez was not at his best as the Barcelona player could not hold several forward passes a few metres away from the box.
Egypt's and Manchester United player Guillermo Varela, on the other hand, seemed impressive down the left as he created many chances but could not finish on the final ball.
The second half saw Suarez again missing a golden opportunity to put his team ahead. Cavani flicked a ball over the defence to the striker, who smashed a shot at the goal but El-Shenawy saved it perfectly.
Suarez once again messed up when Cavani passed the ball. He dribbled around goalkeeper El-Shenawy to keep the ball away but the goalkeeper dived at the striker's feet to produce another brilliant save.
In the 81st minute, Egypt built up the attack but could not find room for a shot and soon after that Uruguay got a chance when Cavani unleashed a powerful volley from Suarez which was brilliantly saved by keeper El-Shenawy.
In the last few minutes of the game, Cavani curled a free-kick that had El-Shenawy beaten but it bounced back off the post. In the end, it was left to Atletico Madrid central defender Giménez to hand Uruguay an important opening victory.
In an earlier group A encounter, hosts Russia had blanked Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2018.
(With agency inputs)