Mohamed Salah has seen it all in football, Premier League titles, Champions League glory, Golden Boots. But on Sunday night in Kansas City, the Egyptian captain experienced something he had never felt before and something his nation had waited decades for. Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1 to claim the first World Cup victory in their history. For Salah, a man who carries the hopes of 100 million Egyptians on his shoulders every time he steps onto a football pitch, the emotion was raw and real. “What happened today is history, for us as Egyptians,” Salah said after the final whistle. “It seems to other teams like it’s okay, it’s fine. You see a lot of teams win their games. But for us as Egyptians it doesn’t happen often. I think this is the first time in history.”
Egypt had gone into halftime trailing by a goal, but a second-half turnaround powered by Salah, who scored once and set up another, completely changed the complexion of the match. It was the kind of big-game contribution that Salah has delivered time and again at club level, now finally arriving on the World Cup stage. “I said before, we just do our best in the tournament to make the people happy in Egypt,” Salah said. “And I think right now they