Salah may have been a superstar at Liverpool. He is on an even higher plane in Egypt.
With every touch comes loud cheers from his country’s fans, with huge pressure on his shoulders on every appearance.
Sunday’s goal was his 68th for his country in 118 appearances, leaving him just one shy of manager Hassan’s all-time goal scoring record, and some will say it’s his most important yet as Egypt finally ended a 92-year wait for a World Cup win.
Former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou, told ITV: “If there was any doubt about Mo’s impact on this team, you can still see it.
“It will give them enormous belief. They had to deal with adversity and their big player stood up and that will give them big confidence. You need your big players to perform to progress.”
Former Jamaica winger Jobi McAnuff added: “Just when he was needed, Mo Salah stood up for his country.”
Salah has played for the senior national team for 14 years and his importance to Egypt is such that high-ranking government officials have been known to get involved when he has been injured.
“I even had calls from Egypt’s Minister of Health,” recalls Dr Mohamed Aboud, the national team’s medic, about the time Salah sustained a serious shoulder injury in Liverpool’s defeat by Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final, leading to speculation he could miss the World Cup in Russia a few weeks later.
But, despite helping Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2019-20 and 2024-25, the player has yet to lift a trophy for his country.
The generation before Salah won three Africa Cup of Nations titles in a row between 2006 and 2010. Since then, there have been two defeats in finals, against Cameroon in 2017 and Senegal in the 2021 edition, which took place in early 2022.
This World Cup win at least banishes one of Egypt’s ghosts.
