Third participant from Africa fixed
Liverpool star Salah shoots Egypt to the World Cup
Updated on October 8, 2025 – 8:39 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Four years ago, participation in the finals was missed on penalties. Now the seven-time African champions are back at the World Cup – thanks to their captain.
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has qualified for the 2026 World Cup with Egypt. The goalscorer led the seven-time African champions to a 3-0 (2-0) win against Djibouti in Casablanca, making the victory in Group A perfect. For Egypt, it is the fourth World Cup participation after 1934, 1990 and 2018. They are the third African team that can plan for the finals next year: Morocco and Tunisia had previously qualified.
Captain Salah contributed two goals in the 14th and 84th minutes in the confident victory, and Ibrahim Adel (8th) also scored against the bottom team. Four years ago, Egypt bitterly missed out on Qatar’s World Cup ticket when they lost to Senegal on penalties.
Mohamed Salah is now hoping for a better performance at the finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico than at the 2018 World Cup, when his team was eliminated at the bottom of the group with three defeats.
The upcoming World Cup is the largest in history to date; it will take place for the first time with 48 teams. Ghana could also be one of them, the West African country took the penultimate step on Wednesday: With the 5-0 (1-0) against the Central African Republic, Ghana secured first place in Group I, and on Sunday a draw against the Comoros will suffice. Madagascar is in second place, three points behind and will play Mali at the end.