Sabasports Match Preview
World Cup: New Zealand vs Egypt
Kickoff Time: 2026-6-22 9:00 (HKT)
New Zealand drew 2-2 with Iran in their opening group match, claiming their first point of the group stage. Chris Wood and Tommy Smith serve as the tactical linchpins and spiritual leaders of New Zealand’s side. Tactically, New Zealand predominantly adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation to centre Chris Wood as their focal striker. The team leans heavily on wide crosses to create sustained pressure, with Wood tasked primarily with poaching goals inside the box. When competing against stronger opponents, New Zealand lack technical quality on the ball; under such circumstances, Chris Wood acts as a target man on counter-attacks. He wins aerial first balls or holds up play with his back to goal to create space for advancing teammates. Additionally, New Zealand place heavy emphasis on defence. Coaching staff closely track metrics including successful physical duels, high-intensity sprints and second-ball recovery success rates. Notably, New Zealand commit to aggressive forward positioning and dictate match tempo through high pressing. If they fail to win possession back, they immediately abandon pressing in midfield and attack, dropping deep near their own penalty area. They then shut down passing lanes relying on physicality and aerial dominance, shifting focus to counter-attacks and set pieces.
Egypt secured a respectable 1-1 draw against Belgium in their opening fixture to earn one point. Throughout the full 90 minutes, Egypt maintained a resilient defensive shape, stifling Belgium’s attacking threat via relentless tackles and ground duels. Despite surrendering possession, Egypt carved out goalscoring opportunities on the break and drew level courtesy of an opposition own goal. Tactically, the front pairing of Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush forms the heart of Egypt’s attack within their counter-attacking system. Salah is no longer required to drop deep frequently to link play; instead, he is given licence to stay wide on the right flank. When opponents transition from attack to defence, he receives long balls or through passes before cutting inside to shoot or delivering low crosses into the box. Even with any gradual decline in physical condition, Salah’s technical and tactical intelligence remains Egypt’s most reliable attacking asset and their primary match-winner. On the left wing, Omar Marmoush makes blistering off-ball runs, creating a dynamic contrast of pace and guile alongside Salah across the frontline. The duo built solid chemistry in the latter stages of Africa’s World Cup qualifying campaign. Their frequent overlapping runs and reverse through passes have repeatedly troubled opposing defences.
In terms of overall squad strength, New Zealand are unequivocally the weakest team in this group. Facing an Egypt side boasting robust defensive organisation and clinical finishing up front, New Zealand hold clear disadvantages across all departments. As such, Egypt are tipped to secure all three points in this fixture.
New Zealand ‘s Last 5 Games: DLLWL
26-06-16 Iran 2-2 New Zealand
26-06-07 England 1-0 New Zealand
26-06-03 Haiti 4-0 New Zealand
26-03-30 New Zealand 4-1 Chile
26-03-27 New Zealand 0-2 Finland
Egypt ‘s Last 5 Games: DLWDW
2026-06-16 Belgium 1-1 Egypt
2026-06-07 Brazil 2-1 Egypt
2026-05-29 Egypt 1-0 Russia
2026-04-01 Spain 0-0 Egypt
2026-03-28 Saudi Arabia 0-4 Egypt
Head-To-Head Record
24-03-23 Egypt 1-0 New Zealand
12-07-29 Egypt 1-1 New Zealand
Prediction: Egypt to win away