Mohamed Salah scored and assisted to fire Egypt to their first ever World Cup victory, a historic 3-1 comeback against New Zealand in Group G – but the match was overshadowed by a bizarre incident that left the All Whites a man down at a crucial moment.
Salah, who scooped the Player of the Match award, inspired the turnaround after New Zealand took a 15th-minute lead through Finn Surman’s towering header from Tim Payne’s corner. Egypt, backed by a vocal crowd at BC Place, had started sluggishly but grew into the game.
“Mohamed Salah scored and assisted as Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1 for their first World Cup win, aided by a bizarre wardrobe malfunction.”
The equaliser came in the 58th minute when Mostafa Zizo met Mohamed Hany’s cross with a header. Nine minutes later, Zizo combined with Salah in a quick one-two before the Egypt captain bent a powerful left-footed finish into the bottom corner.
By then, New Zealand were in disarray. Substitute Ben Old, on for Callum McCowatt, had suffered a wardrobe malfunction – his shorts developed a massive hole in an intimate spot – and was forced to leave the pitch to change kit. The All Whites were left with ten men as Egypt counter-attacked, and Salah exploited the extra space to score what proved the decisive goal.
Trezeguet added a third from Salah’s outswinging corner, a superb header that sealed Egypt’s maiden World Cup win after 92 years of competition. The victory moved Egypt to the top of Group G with four points from two matches, following their opening 1-1 draw with Belgium. New Zealand, held 2-2 by Iran in their opener, languish at the bottom with one point.
The result keeps Egypt’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage firmly alive, while New Zealand face an uphill battle to advance.