Our own preview for this one spent most of its word count on Mohamed Salah's hamstring — fair enough, given he's 34 and Egypt's entire attacking plan still runs through him — and called it "the single most important injury story in Group G." New Zealand, ranked dead-last among all 48 teams at this World Cup, didn't seem to care how fit Salah was for the first sixty minutes. Tim Payne's corner found Finn Surman unmarked in the 16th minute, and the All Whites' towering center-back headed past Egypt's goalkeeper to give New Zealand a deserved lead they took into the break — Chris Wood and Sarpreet Singh causing problems in behind, Egypt strangely toothless against a side with one win in its entire World Cup history, and that win wasn't this one.
Egypt emerged for the second half a different team. Mostafa Ziko — four caps into his international career — rose to head home a Mohamed Hany cross in the 58th minute for his third goal at this level, and nine minutes later Salah and Ziko combined for a swift one-two inside the box that ended with Salah slotting calmly past Max Crocombe to put Egypt 2-1 up. The contest's final say belonged to Salah again: an outswinging corner from the left in the 82nd minute, met by substitute Trezeguet, who powered a header in to make it 3-1 and put the result beyond doubt. Egypt's previous best World Cup result, across three prior appearances, was a draw. This was Egypt's first-ever World Cup win — 92 years after the country's tournament debut in 1934.
It's worth a flag here, given how the build-up to this match was framed: our preview described this as Egypt's "first World Cup since 1990." That's wrong — Egypt also competed at the 2018 tournament in Russia, with Salah himself in the squad, where they lost all three group games. The number that actually matters tonight is 92 — the years since Egypt's World Cup debut without a single win, now finally broken in Vancouver. Egypt move top of Group G heading into the final matchday; New Zealand's search for a first point, and a first-ever World Cup win of their own, continues.
Three previous World Cup appearances — 1934, 1990, 2018 — and not a single win to show for any of them, until a second-half turnaround in Vancouver. Egypt's history at this tournament has been defined by near-misses and group-stage exits. Tonight changes the headline, and puts them top of Group G with a final matchday still to come.
A goal in the 67th minute, an assist for Trezeguet in the 82nd — at 34, in a tournament that was supposed to be a farewell tour rather than a coming-out party, Salah just delivered both halves of the comeback himself. Egypt's plan starts and ends with him, and for one night in Vancouver, that plan worked perfectly.
The lowest-ranked team in the tournament outplayed Egypt for an hour, scored a deserved opener, and still walks away with zero points from two matches. Belgium awaits on the final matchday — a side with two draws of its own and every incentive to find a winner against the All Whites.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| 🇮🇷 Iran | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
Iran and Belgium are level on points (2) and goal difference (0) after Matchday 2 — Iran rank ahead only on goals scored, 2 to 1. The group goes to a final-matchday decider: Egypt face Iran with first place on the line, while Belgium's golden generation must beat New Zealand and hope results elsewhere fall their way just to survive the group.