Mohamed Salah turns heads as traditional Christmas post is very different this year

Mohamed Salah posted a photo of his two daughters sitting in front of a Christmas tree as his annual tradition continued, but he wasn't there to celebrate with his family

Mohamed Salah continued his Christmas Day tradition, though there was a slight change(Image: 2025 Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah continued his Christmas tradition of posting a family photo on December 25, although he was missing from the festivities this year.

Salah, 33, is one of the most recognizable Muslim soccer players in the world, but has embraced English culture since joining Liverpool in 2017. Each year, he posts a photo with his family on Christmas, often in front of a festive tree, wearing matching pajamas.

However, Salah often receives significant backlash as many believe it's offensive to his primary religion. The Egyptian winger continues to ignore the negativity and embrace English culture, but this year, he was missing from the family photo.

Salah posted a photo of his two daughters sitting in front of a Christmas tree at his home on December 25, captioning the picture with a heart and adding "#MerryChristmas." However, he wasn't present for the festive photo this year, as he is in Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The winger scored in Egypt's opening game of the tournament, a 2-1 win over Zimbabwe, and the Pharaohs will face South Africa on Friday. Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush also scored, as the two Premier League stars carried Egypt to victory.

"We created many chances without being able to score early, but in the end everything went well," Marmoush said. "We kept a good mindset and finished the match strongly. We will learn from everything that happened in tonight’s game."

Egypt is the most successful team in the history of the AFCON, though the last victory came in 2010. Salah has yet to experience international success with Egypt, but has been advised to channel his lingering frustrations into his soccer and lead the Pharaohs to the championship.

Salah has already established himself as a Liverpool legend, but was benched in three consecutive games during a difficult period for the club. Salah rarely gives interviews after games, but voiced his frustrations with Liverpool and head coach Arne Slot.

After lashing out, Salah was omitted from the Champions League roster, but returned in a 2-0 win over Brighton before heading to Morocco with Egypt. Salah apologized to his teammates before leaving, and the situation appears to have cooled.

Salah scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe to kickstart the Africa Cup of Nations(Image: Getty Images)

Ahead of the AFCON, former Premier League and Nigeria international Shola Ameobi urged Salah to use his emotions as fuel. "I think Salah will be carrying a lot of emotional weight on his shoulders when he lines up for Egypt, but sometimes you can use that to your advantage," Ameobi told Gameshub.

"If Egypt were to win AFCON, it would cement his legacy," he added. "You can still see the hunger in him even at his age, and he remains one of the best players in the Premier League despite his form.

"Egypt’s ambition will be to go one step further than they did four years ago and win the whole tournament. Once you make the final four, anything can happen. That’s what they will be trying to achieve.

"When you’ve got a player like Salah, who can change the game in an instant, just getting to the knockout stages will put them in a good position. Getting to the semi-finals should definitely be Egypt’s ambition to give them the past chance of having another brilliant tournament."