Mohamed Salah and Egypt suffered a heartbreaking end to their 2022 World Cup qualifying journey as they dropped a penalty-kick shootout to Senegal at the final hurdle with a ticket to Qatar on the line.
The Pharaohs entered the playoff second leg against the defending African champions with a slender aggregate-goal lead going into the decisive clash, and revenge on the mind. Senegal had also cost Egypt an Africa Cup of Nations title in February, similarly via the penalty-kick shootout.
The next time that Salah will attempt to lead his country to a World Cup tournament will be in the run-up to the 2026 event in North America when he'll be turning 34. We're about to see it happen in a few months with two of the sport's biggest stars: Lionel Messi is captaining Argentina to the World Cup as a 34-year-old and Cristiano Ronaldo is doing the same with Portugal at age 37.
So it's not completely out of the question that we'll be seeing Salah back at it. Plus, based on how things have worked out for him in his pursuit of World Cup glory over the years, he'll likely have plenty of desire to make amends and leave his Egyptian compatriots with a positive memory.
Here's a rundown of how Salah has done in the World Cup and in African World Cup qualifying with Egypt since joining his country's national team.
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Has Mo Salah played in the World Cup?
Yes, Mo Salah featured for Egypt at the last edition of the World Cup which was hosted by Russia in 2018. Despite his country finishing bottom of their group behind Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Uruguay without a point, the 29-year-old scored two goals, one against each of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
To date, that 2018 tournament is the only time that Salah has appeared in the premier national team competition, with Egypt's previous appearance coming in 1990.
Despite the lone World Cup appearance, Salah has played a key part for Egypt in qualification campaigns since his introduction to the senior international set-up in 2011, becoming one of the key lynchpins of the Pharaoh's offense.
As well as his two goals at the World Cup proper, he has notched 11 times in 20 all-time World Cup and World Cup qualifying matches he has played across all qualification efforts that he has been involved in since 2012. He finished as top scorer with five goals in Egypt's run to the tournament in 2018.
| Qualifying cycle | Stage reached | Salah (games) | Salah (goals) |
| Group G - 2014 qualification | 3rd round - eliminated | 8 | 6 |
| Group E - 2018 qualification | Qualified for World Cup | 5 | 5 |
| Group F - 2022 qualification | 3rd round - second-leg vs Senegal (in progress) | 6 | 0 |
Last time Egypt played at the World Cup?
Egypt last played at the World Cup in 2018, finishing bottom of Group A without picking up a single point in a group containing host Russia, Uruguay, and Red Sea rivals Saudi Arabia.
They have only featured at the FIFA World Cup three times in total, with the other two occasions occurring in 1934 and 1990.
| Qualified | Stage reached | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| 1934 | First Round | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1990 | Group Stage | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2018 | Group Stage | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Mo Salah all-time goals for Egypt: Where does he rank?
Mo Salah is currently second in the list of all-time scorers for Egypt with 45 goals, trailing only legend Hossam Hassan who fired 68 strikes for The Pharaohs across his illustrious career.
Hassan El-Shazly, Mohamed Aboutrika and Ahmed Hassan complete the top five, while former Wigan Athletic forward Amir Zaki comes in at sixth place with 30 goals.
| Players - Top 10 all-time top-scorers | Caps | Goals |
| 1. Hossam Hassan | 178 | 68 |
| 2. Mohamed Salah | 73 | 45 |
| 3. Hassan El-Shazly | 62 | 42 |
| 4. Mohamed Aboutrika | 100 | 38 |
| 5. Ahmed Hassan | 184 | 184 |
| 6. Amir Zaki | 63 | 30 |
| 7. Emad Moteab | 70 | 28 |
| 8. Ahmed El-Kass | 112 | 25 |
| 9. Gamal Abdelhamid | 79 | 24 |
| 10. Mahmoud El Khatib | 54 | 24 |
Mo Salah titles with Egypt
Mo Salah has yet to win any major silverware with Egypt, however, he has agonizingly finished as runner-up in the African Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2022 respectively.
In 2017, Cameroon defeated Egypt by a score of 2-1, with Mohamed Elneny giving the North African side the lead before Nicolas Nkoulou and Vincent Aboubakar stole the show for The Indomitable Lions.
In 2022, it got even more agonizing for Salah and his teammates. Following a 0-0 draw against Senegal in regular time, teammate Sadio Mane scored the decisive penalty as Senegal won a penalty shootout by four goals to two.
Salah will be desperate to claim silverware with his country before his international career comes to an end, something he deserves after such a productive career at club and national level.