Mohamed Salah, star of the Egyptian national team and Liverpool FC, received widespread praise from FIFA after helping the Pharaohs qualify for the 2026 World Cup to be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Salah scored a brace in Egypt’s 3-0 victory over Djibouti in a match held in Casablanca, Morocco, as part of the penultimate round of African qualifiers for the North American World Cup.

FIFA said about Mohamed Salah in a report published on its official website titled “Mohamed Salah’s Legendary Status Gives Egypt Hope for the 2026 World Cup”: “The boy from Nagrig, a small village in Egypt’s Gharbia Governorate, had never seen his country play in a World Cup when he started playing football. So, as a young man, like any Egyptian, it was natural for him to dream of fulfilling the hopes and ambitions of his people and leading them to the global finals. But the boy Mohamed Salah has grown up, and now it is his turn to carry the responsibility on his shoulders and turn dreams into reality, succeeding in leading Egypt to the World Cup for the second time, an unprecedented achievement among Egyptian football legends.”

He added, “Egypt is one of the strongest football countries in Africa, having won the Africa Cup of Nations title 7 times, a record. Its clubs also shine continentally, with Al Ahly being the most crowned club in the CAF Champions League, followed directly by their domestic rival Zamalek. Despite all this superiority, Egypt has suffered from missing out on World Cup qualification many times, having participated only twice before Mohamed Salah’s era.”

He continued, “Therefore, the impact of ‘Abu Maka’ on Egyptian football is huge. Although he has yet to win the Africa Cup of Nations title (with a chance to try again at the end of 2025), his remarkable performance in the African qualifiers and the advantage he gave the Pharaohs on the pitch made him an exceptional player.”

FIFA continued, “Egyptian fans have great memories of the 2018 World Cup qualifying match, where Mohamed Salah scored the winning goal in the 94th minute, having also opened the scoring in the same match that ended 2-1. Remarkably, eight years later, on the same date, October 8, Salah scored a brace against Djibouti to end the match 3-0, securing Egypt’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup.”

He added, “Mohamed Salah did not just lead Egypt to qualify twice; he broke the record for most goals scored in African World Cup qualifiers by reaching 20 goals, surpassing Didier Drogba, Islam Slimani, Samuel Eto’o, and Momoni Daggano, who all have 18 goals in qualifiers. He also reclaimed the top scorer spot for the 2026 African World Cup qualifiers after the Djibouti match, raising his tally to 9 goals, and reached his 63rd international goal in 108 matches, just 6 goals shy of equaling his current coach and Egypt’s all-time top scorer, Hossam Hassan.”

He concluded, “All these numbers confirm Mohamed Salah’s great value to the Egyptian national team, especially regarding World Cup finals, alongside many records he holds with Liverpool, including being the club’s third-best scorer with 248 goals, 37 goals behind second place Roger Hunt. Despite all these achievements, these numbers place Salah before a new challenge and greater responsibility to lead his country to success at the 2026 World Cup, where Egypt has never advanced past the group stage or won a match, which does not reflect the true value of Africa’s football giants.”