Egypt Makes History with Salah's Comeback Win Over New Zealand

For 90 years, Egypt came to World Cups to take part, not to win. In Vancouver, that changed – and of course it was Mohamed Salah who ripped up the script.

Down 1-0, flat, and staring at another chapter of frustration, the Pharaohs surged back to beat New Zealand 3-1, claiming their first-ever World Cup victory after barren appearances in 1934, 1990 and 2018.

It was tense. It was scrappy. It was historic.

New Zealand strike first, Egypt sleepwalk

New Zealand began as if they had not read the underdog memo.

On 14 minutes, Mostafa Shobeir had to rescue Egypt, reacting sharply at his near post to keep out Elijah Just. The warning went unheeded. From the resulting corner, Finn Surman wandered free, untracked and unchallenged, and buried his header. One-nil, and Egypt’s marking disappeared with him.

Egypt’s response? Almost nothing.

Salah’s only real moment of note in a tepid first half came on 35 minutes, when Omar Marmoush rolled a free-kick into his path on the edge of the box. The former Liverpool forward wrapped his left foot around it, but the ball curled the wrong side of the post. Symbolic of the half: close, but never quite there.

New Zealand controlled the tempo, knocked the ball around with confidence and kept Egypt at arm’s length. Darren Bazeley’s side looked comfortable, even stylish at times. Egypt, by contrast, looked like a team weighed down by history.

Whatever Hossam Hassan said at half-time, he did not whisper it.

A different Egypt emerges

Egypt came out after the break like a team that had been reminded who they are – and what this night could mean.

Their press tightened. Their passes snapped. New Zealand, who had played so bravely in the first half, suddenly found themselves forced backwards, step by step.

Shobeir still had to stay alive, tipping a looping header from Callum McCowatt over the bar on 52 minutes, but the momentum had turned. New Zealand were now hanging on rather than probing.

The pressure finally told.

On 58 minutes, Mohamed Hany found space on the right and delivered the kind of cross defenders hate. Mostafa Ziko ghosted into the box, unmarked and unbothered, and guided his header past Max Crocombe. Simple. Ruthless. Egypt level, and the noise from the stands shifted from anxiety to belief.

New Zealand wobbled. Egypt smelled blood.

Salah takes over

Then came the moment everyone in Vancouver seemed to be waiting for.

On 67 minutes, Egypt broke at speed. Ziko and Salah combined, trading passes with the ease of players who know exactly where the other will be. The ball came back to Salah, just inside the area, on that left foot that has decided so many games in the Premier League.

He did not lash it. He didn’t need to. He swept it, calm and clinical, into the corner.

Egypt in front for the first time. A trademark Salah finish, delivered on the biggest stage, and a goal that carried more than just a scoreline. At 34, he became Egypt’s oldest World Cup goalscorer, and the oldest African player on record to both score and assist in a World Cup match.

For a man supposedly past his Liverpool peak, this World Cup is offering a sharp reminder: he still lives for nights like this.

Salah’s World Cup record remains spotless. He scored in both of his games in 2018, against Russia and Saudi Arabia. In 2026, he has now produced either a goal or an assist in every match he has played, having set up Hany’s strike against Belgium before dismantling New Zealand.

This tournament has been billed as the World Cup of the superstar. In Vancouver, one of the originals made sure his name stayed in that conversation.

Trezeguet seals it, Egypt dare to dream

New Zealand tried to push back, but their early fluency had gone. Egypt, energised and emboldened, played with the confidence of a side who finally believed this was their night.

On 82 minutes, Salah stepped up again, this time from the corner flag on the left. His delivery was vicious, whipped into the danger zone. Substitute Trezeguet attacked it with full commitment, diving to meet the ball and thundering his header past Crocombe.

Three-one. The game was done, and with it, decades of World Cup frustration began to lift.

There was still time for one more chance. Deep into stoppage time, Zizo rounded Crocombe and seemed certain to add a fourth, only to hesitate and see his effort blocked. It hardly mattered. The damage to New Zealand’s hopes – and the boost to Egypt’s – was complete.

Bazeley left frustrated, Salah thinking bigger

Bazeley did not hide his frustration afterwards. New Zealand had been “so good in the first half,” in his words, dominating possession and carving out chances. But when Egypt raised the tempo, his side could not match it. Now, their route to history is brutally simple: they must beat Belgium.

For Egypt, the mood could not be more different.

Salah called the win “incredible” and “a great achievement” for players and staff alike, speaking of a team that wants to “write history and qualify” and be remembered for one of the greatest achievements in Egyptian football.

They are not there yet. The knockout stages still need to be secured. But in Vancouver, under the lights, Egypt finally won a World Cup game – and did it with their greatest player at the heart of everything.

If this is how their story starts, what will the next chapter look like?