2026 World Cup: Salah magic leads Egypt to first victory in 92 years against New Zealand

Mohamed Salah struck the emotional winner as Egypt came from behind to beat New Zealand 2-1 and register their first-ever World Cup win since their debut 92 years ago in the 1934 edition

After Finn Surman gave New Zealand a shock lead, Egypt rallied back with Zico's equaliser, opening the door for Salah's historic winner, before Mahmoud Trezeguet made sure of the win with a third goal for the Pharaohs.

New Zealand executed a disciplined and well-organised first-half strategy, mixing direct long balls with patient spells of possession to frustrate Egypt and gain a foothold in the contest.

Their approach paid dividends when defender Finn Surman opened the scoring from a set piece, shrugging off the attention of Ahmed Fatouh before powering a header beyond the goalkeeper from a corner kick.

The Oceania side had already threatened earlier through Callum McCowatt, whose glancing header was brilliantly tipped over the crossbar, and went into the half-time break with hopes of a very famous win.

However, Egypt emerged from the interval with far greater urgency and began to dominate proceedings. Their persistence was rewarded in the 58th minute when Mostafa Zico met a precise cross from Mohamed Hany and guided a header into the net to restore parity.

With momentum firmly on Egypt’s side, Salah soon produced the moment the fans had been waiting for. The ex-Liverpool forward surged down the right flank, exchanged a neat one-two with Zico, and calmly dispatched his finish into the far corner to put Egypt ahead in the 67th minute.

Salah nearly added another goal late on after cutting inside and unleashing a strike that took a deflection and sailed over the bar.

Nevertheless, he played a decisive role from the resulting corner, delivering the ball that substitute Trezeguet attacked with a diving header at the near post to seal a convincing Egyptian victory.