Egypt earns historic first World Cup win with second-half comeback against New Zealand
Mohamed Salah scored the decisive goal to give Egypt a 3-1 victory in Vancouver, sending them to the top of Group G
Egypt earned its first-ever World Cup victory overnight, coming from behind to beat New Zealand 3-1 in Vancouver. The dramatic second-half comeback now sends Egypt to the top of Group G with four points from two matches.
Mohamed Salah scored the decisive goal in the 67th minute and played a central role throughout the second half as Egypt transformed a listless first-half performance into a historic win — their first in four World Cup appearances.
New Zealand's Finn Surman broke the deadlock in the 15th minute. Egypt went into the break trailing. But by the 58th minute, Egypt evened out the game through Mostafa Ziko. Salah then scored for Egypt nine minutes later, with substitute Trézéguet sealing the win in the 82nd minute.
Egypt has won three Africa Cup of Nations titles but has never previously won a World Cup match, despite Salah leading them to two tournaments. Egypt now has over a 99% chance of advancing from the group, with a potential round-of-16 clash against the United States on the cards.
In other games from the last 24 hours, Uruguay and Cape Verde drew 2-2, Iran and Belgium played out a 0-0 draw, and Spain defeated Saudi Arabia 4-0.