Here is a sentence you could not type for most of the last century: Egypt has finally won a World Cup match. And the man who made it happen got carried around on his teammates’ shoulders through the streets of Vancouver afterward.
Mohamed Salah scored the go-ahead goal in a 3-1 win over New Zealand in Group G on Monday. It was Egypt’s first victory at a World Cup since they debuted in 1934. That is a drought of 92 years. The Pharaohs had played nine matches across four tournaments without a single win.
The celebration that followed looked less like a routine group stage result and more like a parade. Video from outside BC Place shows Egypt’s players gathered in a tight circle. Someone brought a Bluetooth speaker. They chanted in Arabic, arms around each other. Then Salah got hoisted up on a teammate’s shoulders, and the crowd around them lost it.
“This is for every Egyptian who waited,” one of the team’s staff members shouted into a phone, according to fans who posted footage online.
The game itself had a weird shape. New Zealand, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, scored first. Finn Surman put them up in the 15th minute. Egypt looked tight, nervous. It took until the 58th minute for Mostafa Ziko to equalize. That opened things up. Salah poked home a scrappy finish in the 74th minute.
Then Trezeguet made it 3-1 with eight minutes left. Game over.
People forget what this means for Salah specifically. The guy has won the Champions League, the Premier League, the Club World Cup. He has individual awards coming out of his pockets. But international soccer has mostly been heartbreak. He dragged Egypt back to the World Cup in 2018 after a 28-year absence, and they went 0-3 in Russia. Lost to Uruguay. Lost to Russia. Lost to Saudi Arabia. Two prior World Cup appearances in 1934 and 1990? Also winless.
Egypt is the most successful African nation in history with seven Africa Cup of Nations titles. But that World Cup win column had a zero next to it forever. Now it doesn’t.
The Pharaohs are sitting pretty at the top of Group G after drawing with Belgium in their opener. They control their own destiny for the knockout rounds, which would be another first. Their final group match is Saturday against Iran in Seattle. That game now has real stakes.
Salah is 34 years old. He might not get another World Cup. So watching him get paraded around Vancouver by his teammates, grinning ear to ear, speaker blasting — that was the moment. Not a trophy. Not a contract extension. Just a win. Finally.
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