Egypt moved to the top of the Group G table with a near-perfect second half in a 3-1 comeback win over New Zealand on Sunday night in Vancouver. At the heart of that effort were players both expected and unexpected.
Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah, one of the elite players of his generation and a source of national pride within Egypt, was at the heart of everything dangerous and ultimately scored the winning goal. Then there was Mostafa Ziko, who made his national team debut less than a month ago and delivered arguably a Man of the Match performance.
Finally, the game was put out of reach when veteran Trezeguet scored his 24th career goal for Egypt for a 3-1 lead.
Here are my thoughts on it all:
(Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Egypt’s attack is led by Salah and Omar Marmoush, who are with two of the biggest clubs of the Premier League in Liverpool and Manchester City, respectively. Salah is one of the best forwards of the last decade with 257 goals for Liverpool across all competitions.
In the opening half, New Zealand was very effective in shutting down Egypt’s offense. Salah was contained and struggled to generate chances. At the halftime break, Egypt trailed 1-0 and was in a bad spot.
The second half was a complete turnaround for the Pharaohs as it became one-way traffic into the New Zealand half. Salah did what great players do in big games, he raised his level of play to the point where he could not be defended.
He was at the heart of nearly everything New Zealand was creating: he was dribbling past defenders, making smart passes, applying pressure, and getting into the New Zealand box for chances.
Then in the 67th minute, Salah gave Egypt its deserved winner. After receiving the ball at the right corner of the box, he held the ball up under pressure and worked a combination with Mostafa Ziko before beating New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe with a low shot inside the far post.
(Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
The second half was ugly for New Zealand as the team completely collapsed in every area of the game. But in the first 45 minutes, the All Whites played well and Finn Surman was part of that. The Portland Timbers central defender was arguably the best player in the game for the first half.
At the heart of his effort was the goal. In the 15th minute, New Zealand earned a corner kick and Surman made a move into the box to get himself into an unmarked position. He then rose up high to meet a great delivery from Tim Payne and hit a thunderous header that was unsavable for Egyptian keeper Mostafa Ahmed Shobeir.
For Surman, it briefly made him the unlikely star for New Zealand. He has never scored in MLS for the Portland Timbers since joining in 2024, but he now had a goal for the All Whites at the World Cup.
In the second half, there was little Surman and the team’s backline could do with the midfield and forwards unable to keep positions or create scoring chances for another goal. For the last 45 minutes, New Zealand’s defense was simply overwhelmed.
New Zealand is not out of this tournament. Advancing is possible but it will require a massive upset win over Belgium. Surman will need to play well for all 90 minutes to make that a possibility.
(Photo by Jared C. Tilton – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
