Mohamed Salah scores FOUR goals for Egypt as the Liverpool star captains his country to a convincing 6-0 win over Djibouti in the opening game of their World Cup qualifying campaign
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Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored four goals as Egypt got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a convincing 6-0 win.
The 31-year-old took his tally of goals for Egypt to 53 in 93 appearances and is now his country’s most prolific goalscorer in World Cup qualifiers.
He scored 15 goals from 21 qualifying matches, overtaking Mohamed Aboutreika, who scored 14 in 25 matches between 2001 and 2013.
The winger continues to break records for his country, as he did at Liverpool, where he scored 12 goals and provided four assists in his first 17 games.
Salah and Egypt will be determined to make it to the next World Cup, which will take place in North America in 2026, after missing the last tournament in Qatar.
Mohamed Salah continued his excellent start to the season with four goals for Egypt
Salah took his tally to 53 goals for Egypt in their 6-0 World Cup qualifier victory against Djibouti
The Liverpool star opened the scoring after 17 minutes, before doubling the lead from the penalty spot five minutes later.
He added two more in the 48th and 69th minutes of the match, before Mostafa Mohamed and former Aston Villa winger Trezeguet also got on the scoresheet.
It was Egypt’s first World Cup qualifier since Salah missed a crucial penalty in March 2022, leading to Senegal winning 3-1 on a penalty shootout to reach the tournament in Qatar.
There was a shock elsewhere in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup when Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw against Lesotho, who are 113 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
Nigeria were without injured Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and had to come from behind to salvage a point in the opening match.
Salah will feature for Egypt next Sunday when the country faces Sierra Leone in the World Cup qualifier.
It will be their last match before the African Cup of Nations, which starts in January, and Salah could miss a number of matches for Liverpool.
Salah missed a penalty for Egypt in their World Cup qualifying play-off loss to Senegal last year as they took part in the final tournament in Qatar