Egypt’s fourth-ever World Cup, and second this century, begins on Monday with their opening game in Seattle against Belgium. It’s an auspicious day as the oldest national football team in Africa plays their first match of the tournament on the same day that their talisman, Mohamed Salah, celebrates his 34th birthday.
Egypt and Salah find themselves at an interesting inflection point as they embark on this World Cup journey. While Egypt is the oldest African national team and has won more Africa Cup of Nations titles than anyone else, they’ve been decidedly poor in their three previous appearances at the World Cup having yet to claim a win at the tournament. If their fortunes are going to change this time around, they’ll depend on Salah to make it happen.
The trouble is that Salah — after helping Liverpool to a Premier League title in the 2024/2025 season with not only one of the best seasons of his career but one of the greatest performances the league has ever seen in which he 34 goals and 23 assists across all competitions and seemed able to bend teams and entire matches to his will – has been in a bit of a slump for Liverpool in which he had his least productive season with the club. 12 goals and 10 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions would be solid production between the PL and Champions League for any mortal man, but up until this point Salah has been something more than a mere mortal.
Now, with his club future undecided and the likelihood of another trip to this stage unlikely, Egypt will need Salah to be back at something like his best. The good news is that when he’s stepped on the pitch for Egypt during the run to this World Cup he’s been able to do just that. In seven games during World Cup Qualifying Egypt went undefeated with 5 wins and 2 draws, and outscored opponents 20-2. Salah played in six of those games and had 9 goals and 3 assists. Even setting aside a 6-0 thumping of Djibouti where Salah had 4 goals, he still had 5 goals and 3 assists in 5 games. At last winter’s AFCON he had 4 goals and 1 assist in 6 matches, including goals against both South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire, two World Cup teams, to show that despite a drop in his club form he’s still capable of providing special moments for his nation.
Beyond the capability of working wonders, Salah will also have plenty of motivation when he takes the field against Belgium and throughout Egypt’s involvement in the World Cup. Heading into the tournament, Salah sits two goals behind current Egypt manager Hossam Hassan with 67 international goals. It’s not hard to imagine him matching or passing that mark, even if Egypt don’t escape their group with Belgium, Iran and New Zealand. It’s unlikely that Egypt end their World Cup by lifting the trophy, but it would do some good for Salah, who has never won a title with Egypt, to help them claim their first win at a World Cup.
Salah won’t be the only player on the field for Egypt, obviously, but the rest of the side’s talent pales in comparison to one of the greatest players of his generation in world football. Omar Marmoush, who seemed poised to be the heir apparent to Salah’s mantle with the national team after an explosive season and a half with Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany’s Bundesliga saw him notch 37 goals and 19 assists in 67 matches across all competitions, including 20 goals and 13 assists in 26 matches during the 2024/2025 season before moving to Manchester City, but his switch to City’s sky blue has seen his performances and production drop back to earth. Hamza Abdelkarim is an exciting prospect in the system at Barcelona, he’s 18 years old and is still very much a prospect. The bulk of the rest of the team is domestically based, and while the Egyptian league is no slouch, the players just don’t have the same gravity or star power as the King.
Expect to see Egypt set up conservatively, particularly against the group’s top team in Belgium, playing to limit opponent attacks and create opportunities to send Salah running down the wing. That’s where goals and results are most likely to come from, same as it ever was.
