Mohamed Salah leads Egypt to historic first World Cup win as New Zealand swept aside

FootballSports
22 Jun 2026 • 1:19 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Mohamed Salah leads Egypt to historic first World Cup win as New Zealand swept aside

Mohamed Salah led Egypt to their first-ever World Cup victory as they recovered to beat New Zealand ⁠3-1 on Sunday, moving top of Group G and boosting their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

Egypt, pre-match favourites with Salah ⁠and Omar Marmoush ​spearheading ⁠the attack, were backed by a vocal crowd at BC Place. ⁠However, slack defending cost them early ​as ⁠New Zealand defender ‌Finn Surman rose to power home a 15th-minute header from Tim Payne's corner, ‌silencing the sea of ‌red.

Mostafa Zizo met Mohamed Hany's cross in the 58th minute to head home the equaliser. ⁠Nine minutes later, Zizo combined with Salah in a quick one-two before the Egypt captain bent in a powerful left-footed finish, and Trezeguet added a third with a superb header from Salah's ‌outswinging corner.

Egypt, who drew 1-1 with ​Belgium in their opener, moved ‌top of the ⁠group with four points from two ⁠matches. The All Whites, held 2-2 by ‌Iran in ​their opener, are bottom ‌with one point.

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