Egypt have won their first-ever FIFA World Cup match, coming from behind to defeat New Zealand 3-1 and move to the top of Group G.
Mohamed Salah was once again Egypt‘s hero as he helped secure their first-ever World Cup win with a 3-1 victory over New Zealand.
The Pharaohs captain scored and assisted at BC Place Vancouver, moving Egypt to the top of Group G and putting them in a strong position to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Egypt had to come from behind to record their historic win after New Zealand defender Finn Surman headed the All Whites ahead in the 15th minute from Tim Payne’s corner.
Nevertheless, Egypt constantly threatened an equaliser and went close either side of the half-time whistle, with Emam Ashour first poking wide before Salah failed to get any power behind his prodded effort.
Egypt eventually reaped their rewards in the 58th minute as Mostafa Zico’s header proved to be too powerful for Max Crocombe to keep out, and the Pharaohs did not look back after levelling.
They were soon ahead as a quick counter saw Salah play a give-and-go with Zico before he curled past the New Zealand goalkeeper into the bottom-left corner.
Substitute Trezeguet then wrapped up victory for Egypt in the 82nd minute, scoring at the near post from Salah’s corner, while Zizo squandered a golden opportunity to add a fourth in stoppage time after rounding Crocombe but still seeing his attempt saved.
Salah – The Egyptian King
It was a deserved victory for Egypt, who produced 1.96 expected goals (xG) from 19 shots to New Zealand’s 1.47 from 12 attempts, and it was Salah who made the all-important impact.
Salah recorded the most shots (five), touches in the box (13) and created the most chances (five) of any player, as both he and Zico became the first Egyptians to score and assist in a World Cup match.
Salah is also the first player to score at multiple World Cups for Egypt, while he is now the nation’s outright top scorer in the competition with three goals, surpassing Abdel Fawzi’s two.
This is the first time Egypt have scored three goals in a World Cup match, a feat achieved after Trezeguet became the first Egyptian to score off the bench in the competition.
A draw against Iran in their final group game will be enough for Egypt to secure a top-two finish, while all hope is not lost for New Zealand.
After Belgium and Iran drew earlier on Sunday, New Zealand could still reach the knockout rounds if they defeat Belgium in their final Group G clash.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the New Zealand vs Egypt stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G meeting in Vancouver on 21 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
New Zealand 1-3 Egypt: Post-Match Opta Facts
- Egypt have won their first game at the FIFA World Cup and have become the first CAF team to win a FIFA World Cup match after conceding the opening goal of the game since Tunisia against Panama at the 2018 tournament.
- At 34 years and 7 days old, Mohamed Salah has now become the oldest Egyptian player to score in World Cup history, surpassing the previous record set by Magdy Abed El Ghani against the Netherlands in 1990 (30 years, 320 days).
- This was only the second time that Egypt have scored more than once in a FIFA World Cup match (1934 vs Hungary in their first game in the tournament).
- This was the first time that New Zealand have lost a FIFA World Cup match after scoring first. They recorded draws in their only two previous games they’ve scored first (2-2 in 2026 vs IR Iran and 1-1 in 2010 vs Italy).
- New Zealand remain winless after their first eight FIFA World Cup matches (D4 L4) with only Honduras (D3 L6) playing more games and remaining winless at the World Cup.
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