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Egypt first played at a World Cup in 1934. They lost. They did not return until 1990, when they drew twice and lost once. They came back in 2018 and lost all three group matches with Mohamed Salah carrying a shoulder injury from the Champions League final that limited him to a shadow of himself. Across seven World Cup matches spanning 92 years, Egypt had never won. On Sunday in Vancouver, at BC Place, in front of a sellout crowd wearing red, that finally changed. Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1. Salah scored. Salah assisted. The wait is over.
New Zealand led for nearly half the match. Finn Surman rose above the Egyptian defence in the 15th minute to head home a corner from Tim Payne, and for the next 43 minutes the All Whites looked like they might claim their own historic first World Cup win at Egypt's expense. Emam Ashour poked an effort wide before the half-time whistle. Salah himself failed to get any power behind a prodded attempt from a free kick. The frustration was building. Then the second half began, and everything changed.
How Egypt Turned It Around
Mostafa Zico levelled in the 58th minute, rising to meet a cross from Mohamed Hany and heading it past Max Crocombe, who got a hand to it but could not keep it out. Nine minutes later, Salah and Zico combined for a lovely one-two that ended with Salah powering a finish past Crocombe to put Egypt ahead for the first time in the match. The goal was his 68th international goal and his first of this tournament, and the celebration that followed, mobbed by his teammates in front of the red-clad section of the BC Place crowd, captured what the moment meant to a squad that had waited generations for this.
Trezeguet, introduced from the bench in the 76th minute, sealed the result in the 82nd minute with a diving header from a Salah corner, becoming the first Egyptian to score off the bench in World Cup history. When Salah was substituted in the 85th minute, the standing ovation he received from the sellout crowd reflected an understanding among everyone present that they had just watched something historic, not just for one match but for the entire trajectory of Egyptian football at this level.
The Numbers Behind the History
As Opta's match data confirmed, Egypt produced 1.96 expected goals from 19 shots compared to New Zealand's 1.47 from 12 attempts, a deserved victory by any underlying measure rather than a fortunate one. Salah recorded the most shots, the most touches in the box, and created the most chances of any player on the pitch. Both he and Zico became the first Egyptians to score and assist in the same World Cup match. Salah, at 34 years and seven days old, became the oldest Egyptian player ever to score at a World Cup, surpassing the record set by Magdy Abed El Ghani against the Netherlands in 1990. He is also now the first player to score at multiple World Cups for Egypt and the nation's outright all-time leading World Cup scorer with three goals, ahead of Abdel Fawzi's two.
Egypt also became the first CAF nation to win a World Cup match after conceding the opening goal since Tunisia beat Panama at the 2018 tournament. It was the first time in the nation's history they had scored three goals in a single World Cup match, the only previous instance of multiple goals coming against Hungary in their very first appearance in 1934.
What Salah Said
"In years to come, we will remember that this was one of the achievements in history," Salah said afterward, as quoted by Al Jazeera. He singled out the Egyptian supporters who had travelled to fill a significant section of BC Place. "It feels like we are playing in Egypt." The sentiment captured something specific about what this World Cup has meant for Egyptian football's diaspora: a chance, finally, to watch their team win on the biggest stage the sport offers, rather than simply participate in it.
The result puts Egypt top of Group G with four points, ahead of Belgium and New Zealand, who are both on two, and Iran, who sit on one after their own draw with Belgium earlier in the day. A draw against Iran in their final group match on Friday would be enough to secure Egypt's place in the knockout stage, a position that would have seemed improbable to anyone watching the first 57 minutes of Sunday's match in Vancouver. Salah's last World Cup, the one he has spoken about as potentially his final tournament, now has a first win attached to it. Whatever comes next, that fact alone changes how this chapter of Egyptian football history will be remembered.
