'History for us' - Mohamed Salah hails Egypt's first ever World Cup win as Liverpool legend closes in on national team record

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Mohamed Salah said he and his team-mates had made "history" for Egypt after recording their first ever World Cup win with a 3-1 victory over New Zealand in Vancouver. The ex-Liverpool forward netted for the third time at a World Cup.

'History for us' - Salah hails Egypt's first-ever World Cup win following triumph over New Zealand

Video credit: SNTV

He scored his first goal of this year's tournament in the second half, slotting coolly into the bottom corner to put Egypt in front after Mostafa Ziko had levelled just before the hour mark.

New Zealand, the lowest ranked nation at the World Cup in North America, led following Finn Surman's 15th-minute opener.

But they could not keep Egypt out after the break, with Salah also providing the assist for Trezeguet's goal to make it 3-1.

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This was a first World Cup win in four tournaments for The Pharaohs. They lost their only game of the 1934 World Cup against Hungary, could only record two draws in their group in 1990, and lost all three matches in 2018, despite Salah's two goals in Russia.

"It's a great feeling for all of us. It's a great achievement," Salah said. "I said before, we just do our best in the tournament to make the people happy in Egypt and I think right now they are happy and proud.

"The only thing I can promise them is we sweat and we run and we give it our best, and we were lucky to win the game today. We played, I think, a better game.

"We play against a tough team and a tough group. Now we are top of the group and we just need to celebrate today and tomorrow and just focus on the last game."

Egypt are now well-placed to progress to the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time ever, sitting top of Group G on four points from two games.

A 1-1 draw with Belgium in their first match, followed by victory over New Zealand, has put Hossam Hassan's side in a strong position.

Manager Hassan, incidentally, remains Egypt's record goalscorer, with 69 goals in 176 caps from 1985 to 2006. But Salah is now just one goal away from levelling that record, with 68 goals in 118 caps.

"What happened today is history for us as Egyptians," Salah said.

"You see a lot teams win games, but for us, as Egyptians, it doesn't happen often. I think it is the first time in history. And I'm lucky enough to call it this way.

"Hopefully it's not selfish, but we qualified twice last 30, 40 years. I was lucky to play two times and score in two tournaments."

Elsewhere, Belgium could only draw against Iran to leave both teams on two points, and a win for Egypt against Iran on Saturday would guarantee they finish as group winners.

In that scenario, Egypt would face one of the third-placed teams in the round of 32, increasing their chances of progressing even further in the tournament.

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