Salah Leads Egypt to Historic Comeback Victory Over New Zealand
For 92 years, Egypt came to World Cups and left without a win. In Vancouver, that ended – and of course it was Mohamed Salah who tore the page out of history and rewrote it.
A goal, an assist, and a performance that grew from quiet frustration into full command drove the Pharaohs past New Zealand 3-1, turning a flat, anxious night into a landmark one. Egypt had stumbled through 1934, 1990 and 2018 without a single victory. This time, after a laboured first half and an early defensive lapse, they walked off the pitch with three points and a new chapter.
New Zealand strike first, Egypt sleepwalk
For 45 minutes, it looked like the same old story.
New Zealand were sharper, cleaner in possession, and far more convincing. Egypt’s back line creaked from the opening exchanges, and Mostafa Shobeir had to bail them out early, blocking Elijah Just’s effort at his near post on 14 minutes.
The warning went unheeded.
From the resulting corner, Finn Surman wandered free in the box, the marking all but non-existent. He met the delivery with a thumping header, and New Zealand were in front inside a quarter of an hour. Egypt’s defenders stared at one another; the pattern of previous World Cups hung over them.
Salah, stationed on the fringes of the game, had one moment to shift the mood before the break. Omar Marmoush rolled a free-kick short, the former Liverpool forward stepped up on the edge of the area – and curled his effort wide of the left-hand post. The groan from the Egyptian support felt familiar. So did the halftime whistle.
Whatever Hossam Hassan said in that dressing room, it cut through.
A different Egypt emerges
Egypt came out after the interval with purpose and edge. The passing quickened, the runs grew braver, and New Zealand began to retreat under the weight of it.
Shobeir still had work to do, tipping a looping Callum McCowatt header over the bar on 52 minutes, but the momentum had shifted. New Zealand, so composed in the first half, suddenly looked like the side hanging on.
The pressure finally told just before the hour.
Mohamed Hany found space on the right and whipped in a teasing cross. Mostafa Ziko, inexplicably unmarked in almost the same zone Surman had scored from, rose and buried his header. 1-1, and Egypt, at last, had a foothold.
New Zealand wobbled. Egypt sensed it.
Salah takes over
The equaliser lit the fuse. The next spell belonged to Salah.
On 67 minutes, Egypt broke at speed. Ziko exchanged passes with Salah, a sharp one-two that sliced through the New Zealand shape. The ball came back to the No 10 on the edge of the area, right where he has made a career of deciding games.
One touch, then that familiar, sweeping finish. Low, controlled, ruthless. The kind of goal Premier League defenders saw for a decade and could never quite stop. Egypt led for the first time in a World Cup match since 2018 – and this one felt different.
That strike did more than turn the game. At 34, Salah became Egypt’s oldest World Cup goalscorer, and the oldest African player on record to both score and assist in a World Cup match. The numbers simply track what the eyes already know: he still operates at a level most can’t reach.
His record on this stage remains immaculate. He scored in both his appearances at the 2018 tournament, against Russia and Saudi Arabia. In 2026, he set up Mohamed Hany against Belgium, and here he again left with both a goal and an assist. Every World Cup game he has played, he has either scored or created one.
And he wasn’t finished.
Trezeguet seals it, Egypt dare to look ahead
With New Zealand chasing the game and legs tiring, Egypt turned the screw.
On 82 minutes, Salah stood over a corner from the left. The delivery was vicious, dipping into the heart of the box. Substitute Trezeguet attacked it with a diving header, guiding the ball past Max Crocombe and into the net. From 1-0 down to 3-1 up, Egypt had not just turned the match; they had broken the barrier that had shadowed generations.
There was still time for one last flourish. Deep into stoppage time, Zizo rounded Crocombe and seemed certain to add a fourth, only to hesitate long enough for a defender to block. By then, it barely mattered. The work had been done.
On the touchline, Darren Bazeley could only reflect on a chance missed. New Zealand had dominated the first half, moved the ball with confidence, created chances. They could not, in his words, “replicate what we were doing so well in the first half” once Egypt raised the tempo. Now they face a simple, brutal equation: beat Belgium or go home.
Egypt’s equation is very different.
Salah called the win “a great achievement” for players and staff, and spoke of writing history and qualifying from the group. He knows what this night represents. So do his team-mates. They will enjoy it, as he insisted they must, but only briefly.
The knockout stages are now within reach. For the first time at a World Cup, Egypt are not just making up the numbers – they are being led towards the sharp end of the tournament by a superstar still refusing to fade.
