The awkward wardrobe malfunction which helped Mohamed Salah create Egypt history at World Cup

Mohamed Salah helped Egypt secure their first ever World Cup win by scoring in the 3-1 comeback victory over New Zealand.

The Liverpool legend took full advantage of his opponents being temporarily reduced to ten men following a bizarre wardrobe malfunction.

Salah fired Egypt into a 2-1 lead over New Zealand with a bending effort into the far cornerGetty

All Whites midfielder Ben Old, who plies his trade in France at Saint-Etienne, was introduced to the game in Vancouver in the 66th minute.

The following minute, he was off the pitch – watching Salah bend home a trademark curling effort into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1 to the African nation.

Why were New Zealand down to ten men?

Old felt he had been fouled by Yasser Ibrahim on the edge of Egypt‘s box.

After going to ground, Ibrahim inadvertently stepped on his crotch – resulting in Old’s shorts being ripped.

He was then forced to make his way to the sidelines as a new pair had to be fetched from the dressing room before the 23-year-old was allowed to return to action.

In that time, Egypt instantly capitalised on having an extra man as the ball was fed to Salah, who played a one-two with Mostafa Ziko, before tucking home into the back of the net.

His strike completed the comeback after Ziko had cancelled out Finn Surman’s 15th minute opener just before the hour mark.

The incident saw New Zealand boss Darren Bazeley claim that he ‘thought it was a foul’ on Old when speaking following the full-time whistle.

He said: “The goal] should have been stopped, these are moments in games that hurt, we could still defend it better.

“I’m not blaming it all on that, but it’s a World Cup and we need things to go our way and we didn’t get something to go our way today.”

Old thought he should have earned New Zealand a free-kick after he was stepped on by IbrahimGetty He was forced to go off the pitch to change shorts – with Salah subsequently scoringITV

Salah then turned provider in the 82nd minute for Trezeguet as Egypt secured their first World Cup win on their ninth attempt.

Having first competed in the global competition 92 years ago, Egypt had previously drawn three and lost five of their previous eight attempts [across 1934, 1990, 2018 and 2026 tournaments].

The victory has taken Egypt to the top of Group G on four points and on the cusp of a place in the knockout stages for the first time.

A draw against Iran in their final game will likely be enough for Egypt to advance into the last-32.

As it stands, Belgium and Iran sit on two points, with New Zealand in danger of finishing bottom as they sit on just a solitary point – despite taking the lead in both of their games so far.

What has Mo Salah said after creating history?

With his second half goal, Salah, who is on the lookout for a new team, has become Egypt’s outright leading top scorer at the World Cup with three strikes.

And he needs just one more on the international stage to equal boss Hossam Hassan’s record of 69 goals for the Pharaohs.

Salah has scored at a second World Cup having found the back of the net twice in Russia eight years agoGetty

Salah has also become Egypt’s oldest scorer at the World Cup at 34 years and seven days – surpassing previous record holder Magdi Abdelghani who was 30 years and 320 days old when he scored against the Netherlands in 1990.

Meanwhile, he is also now the oldest African to both score and assist in the same World Cup match since records began in 1966.

Speaking of his delight at Egypt’s win, he said post-match: “It’s incredible, I don’t know how to express it in a word, but it’s a great achievement for all the players, for the subs, so hopefully we can carry on like this.

“In the years to come, we will remember this as one of the best achievements in our history, so we just have to enjoy today, enjoy tomorrow, then focus on the game after.

“It seemed like we were playing in Egypt [today], all the fans were wearing red and we felt like we were playing at home, it’s a great vibe.

“Everybody was happy to play this kind of game, we have four points now, so we’re top in the group, the next game is very important.”

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