Egypt delivered a brilliant performance in Group G of the FIFA World Cup 2026, defeating New Zealand 3-1. With this victory, Egypt made history. This marks Egypt’s first-ever win in FIFA World Cup history. They achieved this win after 92 years and 25 days.
The hero of Egypt’s victory was their star player Mohamed Salah. Besides scoring the winning goal, Salah became the first Egyptian player to score in two editions of the World Cup. Moreover, at 34 years and 9 days old, he became the oldest Egyptian player to score a World Cup goal. Mohamed Salah surpassed Magdy Abdelghani, who scored against the Netherlands in 1990 at the age of 30 years and 320 days.
From the start of the match, New Zealand adopted an aggressive approach and took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. Finn Surman scored a fine header from a corner kick. After this goal, New Zealand maintained the pressure and did not allow Egypt any chance to come back in the entire first half. For the first time in a World Cup match, Egypt trailed at halftime. However, after halftime, the team changed its approach and adopted a more attacking strategy.
Early in the second half, Egypt created several chances. Mohamed Salah and Emam Ashour attempted to score, but the New Zealand goalkeeper made excellent saves. Meanwhile, Egypt’s goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir also made some impressive saves to keep his team in the match.
Egypt found success in the 58th minute. Zizo equalized the score at 1-1 with a brilliant free header. Nine minutes later, Mohamed Salah produced his best. After a fine team move, he scored with a low shot to give Egypt a 2-1 lead. This goal proved to be the turning point of the match.
In the final moments, New Zealand tried to make a comeback, but Egypt displayed strong defense. In the 82nd minute, Trézéguet scored the third goal to seal Egypt’s victory.
