Egypt’s First World Cup Win Puts Salah in Rare Air

Mohamed Salah has been carrying Egypt on his back for years. On Sunday, he officially became the country’s greatest World Cup scorer.

Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1 in their second group stage match at the World Cup, rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit to collect their first-ever win in the tournament’s history. And of course, Salah was the one who put them ahead.

Salah’s record-breaking moment

The goal wasn’t just important for the team. It put Salah alone atop Egypt’s all-time World Cup scoring list with three goals, passing Abdelrahman Fawzi who held the record since 1934. According to ESPN Insights, Salah’s strike on Sunday moved him past Fawzi, who scored two goals in the tournament nearly 90 years ago.

That’s right. No Egyptian had scored more than two World Cup goals in the entire 90-plus year history of the tournament. Until now.

Salah also now has 68 career international goals. That puts him one shy of the all-time Egypt record. He’ll likely break that soon enough.

How Egypt got here

The first half against New Zealand was not great. Egypt looked disjointed, couldn’t create much, and went into the locker room down a goal. Whatever manager Rui Vitoria said at halftime worked. They came out firing in the second half and completely flipped the game.

Salah scored the go-ahead goal in the 68th minute. The crowd went nuts. The bench went nuts. And when the final whistle blew, Egypt had four points from two games and control of Group G.

Belgium plays New Zealand later, but right now Egypt sits on top of the group. A draw against Iran in the final group stage match on Friday guarantees they advance to the knockout round. Even if Belgium beats New Zealand, Egypt can’t drop below second place with a draw.

What this means for Salah’s legacy

Salah is 34. He left Liverpool at the end of last season and is now playing in Saudi Arabia. There’s no guarantee he’ll be back at another World Cup. This might be his last shot at making a deep run with Egypt.

But he’s the Egyptian King for a reason. He showed it again on Sunday. Egypt made history. Salah made his own piece of it. And now they’ve got a real chance to keep going.