World Cup: Group G: New Zealand vs. Egypt, 6/21/2026

[Live in the Now]

This one's at 9 PM Eastern in Vancouver.

Pretty sure I'll be back in time for this. Do I need to repeat myself or is it obvious? When every team gets 1 point in the first game, the next game both teams need 3 points.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Before Salah and Marmoush there was Hossam Hassan, Mido, Zaki and Mohamed Zidan. Egypt always had offensive power but lacks in the defensive part.

 

[qcal1427]

Impressed with both teams but more impressed with Egypt. 2-1 to give them their first ever WC win

 

[Summer Rose]

I'm half surprised that @hangman005 hasn't come in here yet to say how he (presumably) doesn't care about soccer.

 

[Sweetnut]

Who scores the first two goals for Egypt?
@Summer Rose
(I heard Imhotep isn't available for this one)

 

[Summer Rose]

Who scores the first two goals for Egypt?
@Summer Rose
(I heard Imhotep isn't available for this one)

Ptolemy and Ptolemy.

 

[gary69]

Ptolemy and Ptolemy.

Anwar Sadat to miss a PK, but then bites the bullet for the team and lets Hosni Mubarek succeed and do the follow up and bury in the rebound.

 

[Summer Rose]

E ihoa atua, o nga iwi matoura... um... I forgot the rest in Maori.

 

[Live in the Now]

Oh man the New Zealanders will go ballistic if they get a bad decision against them. Referee from UAE.

 

[trostol]

good pass that was just a bit behind the forward

 

[DaveG]

E ihoa atua, o nga iwi matoura... um... I forgot the rest in Maori.

 

[kabidjan18]

Egypt is a weird team because they're underrated because they have Mo Salah. Like, some journos are like "oh they must be really good, they have Mo Salah", and then reactionary fans are like "WHAT HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT MO SALAH IS WASHED EGYPT SUCKS" but actually the team outside of Mo Salah is really good.

It was funny hearing Australian fans talk first about how "everyone disrespects the A league, A league players are really good and the fools who just see A league player and write him off don't know ball." And then 5 seconds later those same Australians say "actually did you know that all the Egyptian players are just nobodies who play in the domestic league?"

 

[koyvoo]

It’s comforting to know that Salah has also turned to complete ass for his country as well.

Although that was actually a pretty good run he just made.

 

[trostol]

yeah.. definitely looks like Mo lost a step.. wouldn't have been caught so easily in the past

 

[koyvoo]

Ref has his head in his ass. Pay attention, man.

 

[DaveG]

It’s comforting to know that Salah has also turned to complete ass for his country as well.

Although that was actually a pretty good run he just made.

father time remains undefeated.... though Messi certainly is putting up a hell of a fight with him

 

[Summer Rose]

father time remains undefeated.... though Messi certainly is putting up a hell of a fight with him

Lionel Messi is well on his way to becoming the Jaromir Jagr of soccer in that respect.

 

[PeteWorrell]

father time remains undefeated.... though Messi certainly is putting up a hell of a fight with him

Messi's high IQ was always going to age well compared to a player like Salah that relied on his pace.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

The thing is the biggest issues the underdog teams used to face was that you couldn't necessarily count on there being a professional training and nutrition regime in smaller leagues which often weren't true pro leagues. I think that's changed a lot. With all that expertise being widely publicized and easily accessible today and in fact just many random normal people pursuing really rigid fitness regimes, I think that gap has closed a lot. Cape Verde is full of guys who play in like very low tier leagues and they looked fitness-wise entirely on par with both Spain and Uruguay.

Like just because some guy on NZ or Curacao plays in the Dutch 2nd tier or the Irish league you can't assume the guy doesn't have any athleticism and doesn't know how to run for 90 minutes. And once you have that baseline then stuff like skill on the ball at pace etc. can be worked around in a very small sample size of one group match.

 

[kabidjan18]

It’s always that extra touch in the box that kills you…

 

[Summer Rose]

Didn't someone say in the last game's thread (or the one before that) something about how teams are doing well to one touch things through the midfield but once they get in the box it's like they have to take five touches before they even consider doing with it, and it makes them lose possession? Because Egypt just did that a minute ago or so.

 

[kabidjan18]

Didn't someone say in the last game's thread (or the one before that) something about how teams are doing well to one touch things through the midfield but once they get in the box it's like they have to take five touches before they even consider doing with it, and it makes them lose possession? Because Egypt just did that a minute ago or so.

That was me haha, once you see it you can’t unsee it.

Egypt with a grade A chance ruined by extra touches. While New Zealand guy had a tough angle but still turned it into a SOG and a corner.

 

[trostol]

nice corner

 

[Summer Rose]

THE ALL WHITES ARE ALL RIGHT!!! 1-0!!!

 

[PanniniClaus]

Very difficult to defend Surman..