Key events
32 mins: “Keep talking up Elijah Just please,” requests Ewan Benson. “We’re resigned to losing him from Motherwell this summer, so now we need him to keep bumping up his asking price.” I reckon his performances so far this tournament have added a few hundred thousand to his asking price.
31 mins: Salah tries to take the game on by himself but he’s crowded out.
30 mins: When the match isn’t end-to-end it’s not a great spectacle. The midfield is too coongested to allow either team to get the ball down and play and the combinations are not being executed at speed to trouble either defence.
28 mins: Bingo emails to suggest Finn Surman is the first Portland Timber to score in a World Cup. No idea if that’s confirmed or not.
26 mins: The All Whites’ commitment to following up the long balls means there is space to play through them on the counter. Egypt do just that and Marmoush draws a decent save from Crocombe cutting in from the left.
25 mins: Egypt are not enjoying New Zealand’s long ball/long pass approach. Just is dangerous running in behind, Wood is a menace in the air, and there are white jerseys all over the second balls.
23 mins: New Zealand take a hydration break with their third lead of this World Cup. Can they hold on this time for a history-making victory?
21 mins: There is something nostalgic about New Zealand belting the ball miles downfield for Wood to fight over. In an age of tactical conformity it is smart for the lowest ranked side in the competition to try to tilt the odds in their favour.
19 mins: Singh is now in the book for a professional foul as Egypt looked to break. The Pahraohs still stage a counter and earn a corner on the right. They go short and hold up play for a few seconds before the ball is delivered for Ziko to get near but his header glances wide.
18 mins: Just has been lively, as he was against Iran, and he drives at the Egytian defence with purpose. Singh then has a cross charged down on the left, but another ball from that area does reach McCowatt who swivels and fires a shot on target at the near post that Shobeir is forced to parry away.
16 mins: Lasheen is the first name in the referee’s book for catching Stamenic in midfield.
Just’s shot led to the corner, which was played over to the edge of the six yard box where Surman was unmarked with all the time in the world to pant his header into the back of the net. In an era of sophisticated set piece routines and MMA penalty areas, that was old fashioned meat and potatoes stuff. Awful marking from Egypt, not that New Zealand will care.
GOAL! New Zealand 1-0 Egypt (Surman 15)
Textbook corner, header, opening goal. New Zealand are ahead!
14 mins: The first effort of the night draws a good save from Shobeir at his near post. Just who was fed in dangerously in the left channel and he fired in powerfully from a tight angle.
13 mins: The All Whites are happy to drop off into a 4-4-2 mid block when Egypt’s defenders get on the ball. They’re almost made to pay for their lack of intensity when Ziko shows good skill on the right edge of the box but there are enough Kiwis in attendance to clear. Singh then fails to control the ball on halfway and the counterattack fails to materialise.
11 mins: Neither side appears to have the composure on the ball or patterns of play to work the ball intricately through the lines. Egypt demonstrate exactly that problem, working possession side to side without much momentum then overhitting the cross from deep into the box.
9 mins: New Zealand are controlling the tempo, getting Singh on the ball as much as possible in midfield, looking for direct balls to the powerful Wood or diagonals to McCowatt or Just.
8 mins: New Zealand respond with a shot of their own, Singh dragging wide of the target after good lead-in play down the left. This is an open direct match so far.
7 mins: Wood gets robbed on halfway, the ball breaks to Salah who carries it dangerously towards the box then cuts in in trademark fashion but his left footed curler towards the top corner is blocked.
5 mins: This email from Richard exploits the peak end rule. “I assume that with optimal conditions under the canopy there will be no advert, momentum, tactics, waste of time, woops hydration break. On another note, with all these hydration breaks we’ll see urination breaks next. Never needed either at Wigan.” Does that mean Wiganers don’t need to go to the loo?
3 mins: Chris Wood is unlucky. His run in behind is well timed, and well spotted by the NZ defence, but the gorgeous long pass hits the striker on the back as he anticipates where it might land in full stride.
2 mins: Bright start from both team. McCowatt gets fed into space in the right channel early and his cross is only palmed into the danger zone by Shobeir but he gets away with it. Egypt go down the other end, Marmoush rolls his marker and gets inside the box but just loses control with the chance opening up.
Kick-off!
The battle for control of Group G is under way…
As the anthems are sung the host broadcaster’s images reveal a red-hued stadium. That suggests plenty of support for Egypt today, but also the presence of plenty of Canadian locals.
The two teams have made their way out onto the playing surface. New Zealand will be worthy of their All Whites nickname today. Egypt are in red jerseys, black shorts and socks.
“Lunchtime kickoff in NZ,” Craig Gamble informs me. “I suspect lots of us are working from home’ today like myself :).”
Conditions are optimal under the BC Place canopy.
“I know less about Singh than you presumably do, but agreed that he looked sharp against Iran,” emails James Humphries. “As a ‘Well fan obviously Eli’s better, but Singh does make you sit up and/or go “ooh”, which is especially welcome for late night/early morning games.
That said, New Zealand seem a bit like two very different teams stitched together at about the halfway line. You’ve wee technical players (and also Chris Wood) nipping about up front and a load of big hefty lads clattering gleefully into anything their side of the centre circle. Hope they give Egypt a game, but it’ll have to go some to beat Cape Verde’s result (again).”
Mohamed Salah is a player on the decline but at his best he remains one of the most decisive players in the game. He put in the kind of shift in the opening round to suggest he is prepared to leave it all out there for his country.
Form Guide:
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Rarely could a World Cup participant have demonstrated more unprepossessing form. In seven previous matches at the finals the All Whites have won no matches and scored just six goals. Since 10 June 2025 their international record reads played 10, won one, lost nine.
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Egypt are also winless in tournament history but their recent form is more promising. They drew last time out against Belgium, held Spain to a scoreless draw not too long ago, and defeated both Russia and Saudi Arabia in warmup matches. The Pharaohs’ problem is finding the back of the net. Only once in their past six outings have they scored more than a single goal.
Today’s officials are from the UAE and Qatar, led by referee Omar Al Ali.
Eli Just has garnered all the headlines for New Zealand with his brace against Iran, but keep an eye on teammate Sarpreet Singh. When he broke through with Wellington Phoenix he was the standout young player in the A-League, earning a move to Bayern Munich. His career since has not gone according to plan but he remains a technically gifted creative outlet for the All Whites.
Kari Tulinius informs me, “New Zealand and Egypt haven’t met often, but they did once in a major sporting event. They were in the same group at the 2012 Olympics and the match ended 1-1. And who were the goalscorers? Chris Wood and Mo Salah. And here they are again, representing their countries at a major sporting event.”
Today’s fixture is at Vancouver Stadium, AKA BC Place. It is the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS and hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup final. It has a capacity of just over 50,000.
Already this month it has seen Australia defeat Turkey 2-0 and Canada rout Qatar 6-0.
Egypt are one of the World Cup’s great under-performers. They dare not waste their final tournament with Mohamed Salah.
Egypt qualified for the World Cup unbeaten after missing out on Qatar 2022, booking their ticket to North America with a game to spare. They scored 19 goals in nine matches, as Mohamed Salah led the way with nine, conceded two goals and kept seven clean sheets. Despite the impressive numbers in qualifying, Egypt’s shape is pragmatic more than romantic and they carried that same muscle memory into the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations: tight games, deep stretches without the ball, quick release into Salah or Omar Marmoush. This was exposed by a semi-final defeat to Senegal, when Egypt were set up more to endure rather than to control.
Egypt will probably begin the World Cup in a 4-3-3 formation that becomes a 4-2-3-1 when they have to chase a game, while occasionally switching to a 3-5-2 against high blocks. Mohamed El-Shenawy is likely to start in goal, although Mostafa Shobeir has lately been giving the veteran a run for his money. The rest of the spine looks solid with Rami Rabia and either Hossam Abdelmaguid or Yasser Ibrahim in central defence. Marwan Attia and Hamdi Fathi will screen the backline and Emam Ashour will look to deliver the ball to the trio up front.
New Zealand arrived at this World Cup as rank outsiders but they are now 90 minutes from the knockouts.
New Zealand, known as the All Whites, are back at the World Cup for just the third time, thanks to winning the Oceania region’s sole qualifying spot. Since their last World Cup in 2010 New Zealand have evolved from part-timers to professionals and there is belief they have the skillset and experience to make the knockout rounds for the first time.
It’s a tall order, though. New Zealand, at No 85 the event’s lowest-ranked qualifiers, are up against Belgium, who are ninth, Egypt, 29th, and Iran, 21st, in Group G. The renowned commentator Paul Ifill says the current squad is “miles better” than the one that went to South Africa, where they finished unbeaten with three draws. After the squad announcement the coach, Darren Bazeley, agreed the side were in a good place: “It’s a blend of exciting young talent and experienced players to maximise our chances of winning games and getting out of our group.”
Bazeley favours possession football, which worked in their qualifiers but will be a bigger ask against more skilled opponents. Since qualifying their 10 friendlies have included a draw against Norway (without Erling Haaland) and seven losses, including two to Australia. The warm-up matches in March were mixed, a lacklustre 2-0 loss to Finland preceding a sparkling 4-1 win against Chile days later. It was New Zealand’s first ever win against a South American side.
Bracketology is getting a serious workout today with Group G on a knife’s edge and the very real prospect of Cape Verde making the round of 32.
After claiming a point against Spain, Cape Verde have now held Uruguay to a draw!
Egypt XI
The Pharaohs are also unchanged!
Egypt (4-2-3-1) 23 Shobeir (gk); 3 Hany, 14 Fathy, 2 Ibrahim, 13 Fattouh; 17 Lasheen, 19 Attia; 10 Salah (c), 8 Ashour, 11 Ziko; 22 Marmoush.
New Zealand XI
The All Whites are unchanged.
New Zealand (4-2-3-1): 1 Max Crocombe (gk); 13 Liberato Cacace, 16 Finn Surman, 5 Michael Boxall, 2 Tim Payne; 6 Joe Bell, 8 Marko Stamenić; 11 Eli Just, 10 Sarpreet Singh, 20 Callum McCowatt; 9 Chris Wood (c).
Soon we will get a second look at Elijah Just, one of the breakout players of the opening round.
Here’s the latest pod.
Laine Yamal added some much needed spark to Spain’s attack as the World Cup favourites kickstarted their campaign with a rout of Saudi Arabia.
This was exactly the way the coach would have wished it. Lamine Yamal scoring 10 minutes into his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in April. Mikel Oyarzabal adding two more in the first “quarter”, Marc Cucurella forcing the fourth on 49, victory secured so early that De la Fuente could withdraw those players who needed protecting and give minutes to those that needed them, Mikel Merino and Nico Williams invited to join the party too. Unai Simón was the last to arrive, not making a significant save until the 80th minute.
Here’s Ben Fisher’s match report from Los Angeles where Belgium and Iran each kept their World Cup campaigns afloat in a match full of incident. It’s a result that means Group G will go down to the wire with all four teams capable of reaching the knockout stage on the final day.
There was simply no debate over the moment of the match and it is one that Iran will cherish, even more so if they are to progress to the World Cup knockout stage for the first time. Every angle of Alireza Beiranvand’s preposterous save to prevent Belgium taking the lead approaching the hour adds to the miraculous nature of it all. Perhaps the most ludicrous element was that Beiranvand had seesawed to his left in an attempt to intercept Kevin De Bruyne’s rolled cross into the six-yard box and yet, scrambling on the turf, stuck out a left glove to shut the door in the face of Maxim De Cuyper. Belgium finished with 10 men after Nathan Ngoy was sent off for hauling down Mehdi Taremi.
If Iran advance to the last 32, they will surely reflect on Beiranvand’s divine intervention. De Bruyne glittered in moments, none more so than graciously bringing Leandro Trossard’s lifted pass down on the byline. Beiranvand made it his mission to reach De Bruyne’s pass before Romelu Lukaku, who by starting became the third-most capped Belgium player. In the end Ali Nemati stopped the cross, legs splayed as Beiranvand thwarted De Cuyper. Iran believes. Meanwhile Belgium, who went out at the group stage four years ago, are in a spot of bother.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of New Zealand v Egypt from Vancouver Stadium. Kick-off in this Group G clash is 6pm local time (9pm EDT/2am BST/11am AEST).
In this history of the World Cup only Honduras have played more matches (nine) than Egypt (eight) and New Zealand (seven) without winning. Both nations came close to breaking their ducks in round one with the Pharaohs undone by the second-half introduction of Romelu Lukaku, and the All Whites twice pegged back by Iran.
Ranked 85th in the world by Fifa, New Zealand are the weakest team on paper at the finals. But they looked capable in their opening match with Chris Wood excelling as a target man, using his strength with his back to goal to help his side gain a foothold downfield. They will begin every match as underdogs so Darren Bazeley doesn’t need to overthink anything.
Egypt, by contrast, had more than one eye on defence when they took on the Belgians, double and triple teaming Jeremy Doku to neutralise their opponents’ greatest threat. This evening they will need both eyes on attack if they are to finally live up to the reputation they have earned winning seven Africa Cup of Nations.
With the earlier match in Group G ending in a draw, these two protagonists know that a win will deliver an outcome of historic proportions.
I’ll be back shortly with team news and a roundup of all the matchday action so far. In the meantime you can keep an eye on Cape Verde’s magical tournament debut as they terrorise Uruguay, and email any thoughts about the World Cup to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
