After the New Zealand World Cup match, Mo Salah and Egypt’s team weren’t allowed into a US city, and an official statement was made about it.
Mohamed Salah and his Egypt teammates faced a surprising setback just hours after celebrating their country’s first-ever World Cup win.
On June 22, Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1 in Vancouver, thanks to goals from Mostafa Ziko, Salah, and Mahmoud Trezeguet, overcoming New Zealand’s early goal from Finn Surman. This historic win put Egypt at the top of Group G, after their earlier 1-1 draw with Belgium.
After the match, fans shared videos of Salah and the team celebrating on the streets of Vancouver. But their plans quickly hit a snag. Egypt had planned to fly straight from Vancouver to Seattle, where they would prepare for their next match. However, local security officials denied their request, forcing the team to return to their training base in Spokane, Washington.
Egypt’s coach, Hossam Hassan, explained in a statement: “Security authorities didn’t allow us to stay in Seattle as planned, so we have to return to Spokane. We wanted to avoid tiring the players with extra travel before the Iran game on June 26, but now we have to fly from Spokane to Seattle.”
Egypt’s next game against Iran is on June 27 in Seattle, so the extra travel time could affect their preparation. Iran has also struggled with travel, having to train in Tijuana, Mexico, even though all their group games are in the US.
Iran’s coach, Ardeshir Ghalenoei, shared his frustration, saying they only had 16 hours to prepare for their 0-0 draw with Belgium and couldn’t train as much as they wanted. He added, “We’re allowed to plan our travel better for the last game, but I wonder why that wasn’t possible for the first two.”
Right now, Egypt leads Group G with four points. Iran and Belgium both have two, and New Zealand has one. A draw could be enough for Egypt to move on to the Round of 32, but a win would secure their spot for sure.