Published on 6/22/2026
The official website of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) highlighted Egypt’s victory over New Zealand (1-3), in the second round of Group G of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in America, Mexico and Canada.
The Egyptian national team raised its score to four points in first place in the group, two points ahead of Iran and Belgium in second and third places in the standings, while the New Zealand national team is at the bottom of the standings with one point.
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FIFA said on its official website on Monday that Egypt’s first victory in the history of its participation in the World Cup came 92 years after its first participation in the tournament in the 1934 edition, where the team lost its only match to Hungary with a score of (2-4).
The Egyptian national team achieved victory over New Zealand 33,628 days (more than 92 years) after its first appearance in the World Cup.
In the third round, the Egyptian national team will meet the Iranian national team, next Saturday, and the New Zealand and Belgium national teams will meet on the same day.
Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egyptian national team, said that his country’s victory over New Zealand represents a wonderful and long-awaited historical achievement.
Salah added, in statements during his speech to the media after the match, that the match witnessed a major shift in performance between the two halves of the match, as he confirmed that the Egyptian team did not appear well in the first half.
He added that the shortcomings of the first half were the lack of offensive coordination and conceding an early goal in the first quarter of an hour, as a result of the quality of the opponent on the offensive level.
Salah explained that the players’ focus in the second half and correcting mistakes resulted in Egypt’s first victory in the history of its participation in the World Cup after three previous editions in which the team was unsuccessful.
Salah sent a message to the Egyptian national team players, stressing the need to focus on the next confrontation against Iran in order to achieve victory and ensure qualification, stressing his great confidence in his teammates’ ability to achieve a distinguished achievement in the tournament.
