World Cup 2026: New Zealand vs Egypt Tips, Odds & Prediction

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New Zealand will continue their World Cup campaign on Monday, June 22 at 1pm NZST, heading to Vancouver to take on Egypt at BC Place. The Kiwis are fresh off an exciting 2-2 draw against Iran in their opener in which they led twice only to surrender that lead on both occasions, and while they’ll again head in as underdogs with football betting sites, they’ll be buoyed by their previous performance.

New Zealand

Having only previously played in two editions of the tournament, the Kiwis remain without a win at the World Cup and will have been disappointed to surrender leads twice given to them by Elijah Just. But while they couldn’t hang on for what would have been an historic win, that performance showed that despite their low ranking, New Zealand is not a side to be taken too lightly. Just showed his capacity as a goalscorer in that game and alongside Nottingham Forest striker Christian Wood, they are not without their scoring threats. They will, however, need to be at their best to challenge the robust Egyptian defence.

Team News: Matt Garbett has unfortunately been ruled out for the duration of the World Cup following a hamstring injuries, but of those that played in their opener the Kiwis have no injury or suspension concerns.

Predicted Lineup: Crocombe; Cacace, Surman, Boxall, Payne; Stamenic, Bell; Just, Singh, McCowatt; Wood

Egypt

Egypt had a strong warm-up for the World Cup, taking on some very good sides in the months preceding the event. That showed when they took on the more highly fancied Belgium in their opener; the Egyptian team were highly competitive throughout the game and led 1-0 until halfway through the second half when an own goal saw the scores equalized, the score remaining at 1-1 for the rest of the game. But despite that disappointment, they were very good across the board in that game and with Mo Salah leading the way up front, will be confident in their ability to put a couple of goals past his Kiwi defence.

Team News: Egypt reported no fresh injury concerns out of their World Cup opener.

Predicted Lineup: Shobeir; Fotouh, Fathy, Ibrahim, Hany; Attia, Lasheen; Ziko, Ashour, Salah; Marmoush

Egypt and New Zealand have only a brief history against one another, but here’s what you need to know about their previous matchups and form.

• These two teams have only met once this century, when Egypt won 1-0 back in 2024.
• The Kiwis haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in their past 11 matches.
• Neither of these teams have ever won a game at the World Cup.

For all intents and purposes, this looks like a great opportunity for Egypt to secure their first ever World Cup win, with their dangerous attacking duo of Mo Salah and Omar Marmoush likely to put a whole lot of pressure on a leaky New Zealand defence. But the Kiwis showed in their last outing that they will not go down lightly, even if World Cup 2026 odds are against them. Expect them to come out swinging and look to put scoreboard pressure on their highly fancied opponents, but while it would be no surprise if they are able to find the back of the net, they will also likely struggle to keep Egypt from scoring multiple goals. An exciting game could be on the cards here, with both sides finding the back of the net but Egypt ultimately getting over the line.

Over 2.5 Goals (2.19)

Scoring goals was always expected to be the Kiwis issue heading into this event, but with 8 shots on target against Iran they showed they’re capable of putting pressure on opposing defences. Unfortunately they are also very vulnerable at the other end of the pitch, and with Egypt’s offensive firepower this looks like a really solid bet at better than even money odds.