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Mohamed Salah now has an opportunity to respond three years on after Sadio Mane's Senegal crushed Egypt’s hopes of reaching the 2022 World Cup.
Salah could this week become the second African soccer icon, after Achraf Hakimi, to secure his place at the 2026 World Cup in North America. The Liverpool forward will captain Egypt in a crucial Group A African zone qualifier against Burkina Faso on Tuesday.
A victory for the Pharaohs would guarantee them first place in the group with two matches to spare. Africa’s nine group winners will earn spots at the expanded 48-nation tournament, up from 32 teams at the last World Cup in Qatar three years ago.
Salah converted a penalty in Egypt’s 2-0 win over Ethiopia in Cairo on Friday, while Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush also scored from the spot, helping maintain a five-point lead over Burkina Faso.
Earlier the same day, Burkina Faso defeated 10-man Djibouti 6-0, with Brentford’s new signing Dango Ouattara atoning for a missed penalty by scoring twice, including from the spot.
Egypt defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 in Cairo last year, thanks to a blistering start as Mahmoud Hassan, better known as Trezeguet, scored twice within the opening seven minutes.
So far in this World Cup qualifying campaign, Egypt has netted 16 goals in seven matches, with Salah contributing seven and Trezeguet five. Salah currently sits second in the Golden Boot race, just one goal behind Gabon’s Denis Bouanga.
Salah missed the decisive penalty in Egypt’s play-off shootout defeat to Senegal, a miss that ultimately denied his nation a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
At the time, the setback added to a string of disappointments for the Liverpool star, coming shortly after Egypt lost the Africa Cup of Nations final to Senegal, where Salah had also faced the disappointment of seeing his then Liverpool teammate Mane play a key role for the opposition.
Following the Egyptian international's heartache, the then Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted Salah would bounce back from the heartache. "I’m really happy for Sadio and I feel for Mo," said Klopp at his pre-match press conference at the time
"I don’t think the situation with lasers (shone at players by fans) in the shootout was cool. It’s different when two mates are in such a big game against each other, but they are top professionals.
"They are emotional, but they will deal with it in the right way. Senegal are the best team in Africa, and Egypt took them to the wire twice. That is as close as you can get. I am not sure they can see it like this, but they cannot get closer.
"Mo wants to win again. His desire will be bigger now than ever. He is a very smart person. He knows that Senegal are a really tough team in the moment. They have a good generation. But he is fine."
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