Salah leads Egypt to qualify for the 2026 World Cup

Mohamed Salah led the Egyptian national team to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals by scoring two goals in a 3-0 victory over Djibouti in the ninth round of the first group competitions in the African qualifiers.

The Egyptian national team raised its score to 23 points with one round remaining in the qualifying campaign, making it difficult for Burkina Faso, which is in second place with 18 points, and which also won 1-0 over Sierra Leone today, to make up for the points difference.

Ibrahim Adel opened the scoring for Egypt in the eighth minute of the match hosted by Al-Arabi Al-Zawali Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, when he received a perfect cross pass from Ahmed Mustafa (Zizou), which Adel headed into the left corner of the goalkeeper of Djibouti.

Salah added the second goal for his country in the 14th minute after receiving a through pass from Mahmoud Hassan (Trezeguet). Salah raced behind the Djibouti defenders alone in the goal and shot a ground ball into the left corner of Djibouti’s goal.

Liverpool’s English player, Salah, added his second goal and the third goal for his country in the 84th minute of the match, after preparation by Marwan Attia, to seal Egypt’s victory and advance to the finals for the fourth time in its history.

Salah’s third goal today is his 20th with the Egyptian national team in all his participation with the national team in the World Cup qualifiers, making Salah the top scorer in Africa in the World Cup qualifiers. Salah scored 61 in his international history with the Pharaohs national team.

Hossam Hassan, the Egyptian national team coach, became the first Egyptian to qualify with the Egyptian national team for the World Cup as a player and coach, as he led the Egyptian national team to the 1990 finals in Italy as a player, and today he leads the national team to the World Cup as a coach.

The Egyptian national team dominated the first half and scored a goal in the sixth minute through Mostafa Mohamed, which was canceled by the match referee due to offside.

In the second half, the Egyptian national team continued its offensive pressure in order to increase the number of goals, and Mustafa Mohamed almost scored against Djibouti in the 58th minute, but the defense cleared the ball from the goal line.
Djibouti’s goalkeeper blocked another shot from Mustafa Mohamed in the 79th minute, before the ball turned into a corner kick.