77 mins: Those changes indicate Egypt are not looking to settle for 2-1.

75 mins: A quartet of substitutions as the drinks break ends.

For NZ: Singh and Cacace make way for Thomas and Randall.

For Egypt: Marmoush and Ziko for Trezeguet and Abdelkarim.

73 mins: The hydration break finally arrives to give Darren Bazeley a chance to reorganise. His team is in quicksand and needs to regroup fast.

72 mins: It does appear that Old was forced to change his shorts. Quite why he was wearing the wrong ones to begin with is beyond me. How does that happen at this level?

71 mins: New Zealand cannot clear their lines, continually conceding turnover possession. This is a red wave in Vancouver.

70 mins: Egypt are playing at a higher quality than New Zealand can cope with right now. More goals are theirs for the taking.

68 mins: “A neutral observer here,” Nick Inatey assures me, “the ref seems to be doing what he can to give Egypt a leg up.” I haven’t noticed that myself, but Old is currently off the field for transgressing something, perhaps wearing a shirt and shorts combination with different numbers?

The All Whites have been drowning, not waving, since half-time and they now find themselves behind. Salah had time to carry the ball forward, exchange a one-two on the edge of the box, then sidefoot calmly past Crocombe in trademark fashion. It is no less that Egypt have deserved for taking the initiative in the second half.

67 mins: Now the opposite of that previous attack occurs with Salah finding space between the lines, feeding Marmoush on the left. He cuts in and shapes to shoot but is robbed by Bell as he’s about to pull the trigger.

66 mins: Old comes off the bench to replace the hard-working McCowatt.

65 mins: Stamenic has a shot blocked 25m out and the ricochet reaches Marmoush. He carries the ball downfield, offloads to Salah, but the veteran is heading down a blind alley and New Zealand deal with the danger.

64 mins: The All Whites do finally get a chance to take the sting out of the game, padding their possession stats along the back four. Egypt seem comfortable standing off now they are level.

62 mins: Ashour has grown into this game, providing that link between the lines that was missing in the first half. He’s fouled on the right, allowing another set-piece opportunity, but the referee blows for some shirt pulling in the box – not once, but twice. New Zealand welcome the respite but they need more before they are overwhelmed.

60 mins: Are we going to end the matchday with four matches four draws in Group G?

Egypt have dominated possession since the break and from one of those passages of sideways movement the ball is played out wide to the impressive Hany who crosses first time for the unmarked Ziko to head beyond Crocombe. The keeper could have done better but it was a powerful effort from close range. The Pharaohs deserved that.

58 mins: Crocombe pings the ball out on the full about 60m downfield. New Zealand need a circuit breaker.

57 mins: Egypt win a corner after good work from Hany and Attia down the right. The set piece is poor though, played short allowing New Zealand to come out and smother than attempted delivery.

56 mins: Much quicker, crisper, and more varied from Egypt this half so far. Salah’s move inside has helped, backed by Hany playing as an auxiliary right winger.

54 mins: Salah almost rolls Boxall in the penalty area but the Kiwi defender holds his ground. Egypt recycle play nicely, switching from left to right expansively, then looking for one touch combinations around the box. This is lovely from the Pharaohs and it creates an opening for Ziko – whose goalbound effort smacks into a white shirted defender.

53 mins: Chance! Finally New Zealand work their way downfield – Just again important. With some time and space on the left a long bass is floated towards the near post where it’s met by the angled run of McCowatt and his flick on is destined for the back of the net but Shobeir tips it over. Egypt defend the resulting corner much better than they did for Surman’s first-half goal.

52 mins: Now a cross comes in from the left that New Zealand hack clear. Despite good work from Just Egypt quickly reclaim possession. The All Whites can’t get out of their defensive third.

51 mins: It’s all Egypt this half so far. New Zealand lose the ball in transition on the right and after a couple of passes Ashour drags a left footed effort wide. From the goal kick Egypt are soon back in possession and Marmoush has a shot blocked off his boot just inside the box.

50 mins: Hany links well with Ziko down the right but Salah is crowded out in the middle. I think the Liverpool legend has moved to a more central area this half.

48 mins: Not for the first time tonight Egypt win a free-kick not too far outside the box. Another thoughtful routine ends with Marmoush scuffing a shot wide.

47 mins: Salah forces an early save from Crocombe after he gets a toe poke to a second effort following a good cross from Hany down the right. An immediate show of intent from Egypt.

46 mins: No changes from either side at the break.

The match started brightly but declined as the half wore on. New Zealand have a clear and effective game plan that exploits Wood’s dominance under the long ball and the effervescence of Just and McCowatt.

Egypt present like they should be better than they actually are, but their ball movement is slow and attacking organisation disjointed. Salah looks a shadow of his former self on the right.

The lowest ranked side in the tournament, a nation without a World Cup win in their history, and in 45 minutes New Zealand could be in the round of 32.

45+3 mins: Egypt are lacking a midfield metronome to keep the ball moving and show for one-twos. There’s too much space between their lines and no room in behind for them to exploit. It’s all very flat and in front of the Kiwi defence so far.

45+2 mins: Egypt have acres of room in transition on the right but when the ball reaches Salah his cross is poor and easily cleared. The Pharaohs come again and this time they do whip in a dangerous cross, between the keeper and the retreating defence, that Ashour just gets to with an outstretched left leg, but he can’t get enough purchase to divert it onto the target. Perhaps Egypt’s clearest opening of the half.

45+1 mins: Four minutes of stoppage time before the break.

45 mins: Another free-kick in a dangerous crossing position. This time it’s Bell treading on Marmoush, who needs no second invitation to hit the deck. Egypt try something cuter this time but New Zealand are alert to it and clear. Ashour then tries to head down that left channel once more but his resulting cross is overhit.

43 mins: Egypt work a nice triangle down the left that ends with Fatouh running into Payne and earning a free-kick from a good crossing area. The delivery is fine but New Zealand are always going to win most aerial contests.

41 mins: Fathi is down receiving treatment, giving both teams an impromptu hydration break. The Egyptian defender looks done for the day. He went down without contact so you must assume it’s a strain of some description. Eventually, Rabia comes on in his place.

40 mins: Just is genuinely having a great game, darting down the left a couple of times, dovetailing with Singh, and watching the latter cross for Wood to compete but Shobeir is strong overhead.

38 mins: One of those opportunities emerges with Payne too strong on the right, feeding Wood, who thinks he’s set up Singh for a shot but the flag is up for offside.

37 mins: New Zealand are bossing the second balls, winning everything that drops to ground from their long passes out from the back. On a few occasions this has created instinctive flicks forward that have come close to releasing Singh or Wood.

35 mins: The free-kick routine is cute but it ends with Salah bending a shot around the wall but without enough curve to bring it back on target.

33 mins: Egypt have been in possession with repeat attacking pressure for about five minutes, but they have so few players committed to getting ahead of the ball carrier it’s all very stodgy. They are happy when McCowatt slides in rashly on the edge of the penalty area to turn another slow build up into a menacing set piece situation. The All Whites No 20 is booked for his troubles for good measure.

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.

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.

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:

• 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.

• 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!

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.