Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored his first goal of the tournament as part of a second-half flurry to deliver Egypt their first World Cup victory, 3-1 over New Zealand on Sunday night in Vancouver.
Both Salah and Mostafa Zico tallied a goal and an assist as Egypt (1-0-1, 4 points) rallied from a 1-0 halftime hole and took over first place in Group G. Trezeguet scored Egypt’s third goal for late insurance.
The first three matches of Group G ended in draws, including Belgium and Iran posting a scoreless tie earlier Sunday, leaving the group open for the taking. New Zealand (0-1-1, 1 point) thought they were on that path after Finn Surman’s headed goal off a 15th-minute set piece gave them a lead they held for nearly half the match.
Egypt will finish the group stage against Iran on Friday, all but assured to advance to the knockouts no matter the result. New Zealand, still seeking their own first World Cup win, will take aim at Belgium on the same day in their hopes to advance.
Mostafa Shoubir made four saves for Egypt, while Max Crocombe put up four for New Zealand.
New Zealand earned their go-ahead corner kick when Elijah Just had a strong effort on target and Shoubir sent it out of bounds.
Tim Payne’s ensuing corner found Surman in space. Surman’s jumping header went past a helpless Shoubir to give the All Whites the lead.
Egypt had a promising look in the 35th minute on a free kick from the edge of the box after Callum McCowatt picked up a yellow card for a poor tackle. A teammate laid the ball off for Salah, whose attempt on goal missed to the left.
Egypt had more control and more of the chances in the second half, starting immediately when Salah pressured Crocombe into a save less than 40 seconds in.
But the Pharaohs finally broke through in the 58th minute. Mohamed Hany landed a perfect cross for Zico, whose header near the 6-yard line struck Crocombe’s glove on its way in.
Salah’s turn came nine minutes later. Zico connected with Salah up the right side on a transition play. He dribbled around his man into the box and tapped a pass ahead to Zico, who back-heeled it into a pocket of space for Salah to finish with a left-footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Trezeguet wrapped the match in the 82nd minute on another header from a corner kick. Salah sent in a low offering and Trezeguet was unmarked as his diving header bounded in. It was Trezeguet’s 24th career goal in international competition and his first at a World Cup.
–Field Level Media
