Egypt writes history in Vancouver.. The Pharaohs turn the tables on New Zealand and take the lead in the group.
The Egyptian team achieved a historic and deserved victory over its New Zealand counterpart, 3-1, in the match that brought them together at dawn on Monday at BC Place Stadium in the Canadian city of Vancouver, in the second round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.
The New Zealand team entered the match in a strong manner and succeeded in opening the scoring early through Finn Surman. In the 15th minute, this put the Pharaohs under pressure during the first half, which ended with New Zealand leading by one goal without a response.
With the start of the second half, the Egyptian team appeared in a different face and imposed control over the course of the match in search of a comeback in the result, so substitute Mustafa Zico succeeded in scoring the equalizer in the 58th minute, restoring hope to the Pharaohs and igniting the enthusiasm of the Egyptian fans.
The Egyptian team continued its offensive pressure, before captain Mohamed Salah succeeded in giving the Pharaohs the lead. With a second goal in the 67th minute, after he took advantage of his team's advantage during the second half and turned the result in favor of Egypt.
The Egyptian team was not satisfied with that, but continued its superiority until the match was decided once and for all through Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, who scored the third goal in the 82nd minute, confirming the superiority of the Pharaohs and giving them their first victory in the tournament.
This victory is considered historic for the Egyptian team, as it represents the first victory for the Pharaohs in the history of their participation in the World Cup, after the team played three times. Previous editions without succeeding in achieving any victory.
With this result, the Egyptian national team raised its score to 4 points to take the lead in Group Seven, and is very close to securing a qualification ticket to the next round, while the New Zealand national team’s balance was frozen at one point in fourth and final place.
The Pharaohs will play a decisive confrontation in the third round against the Iranian national team, amid high hopes of continuing the positive results and decisive qualification to the knockout rounds of the tournament.