Mohamed Salah is a professional footballer who captains the Egypt team and plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool. Salah is among the greatest African players of all time and is considered one of the best players in the world. He is the highest scoring Egyptian ever with 303 career goals for club and country.
Salah is predominantly known for his speed, movement, clinical finishing, agility, dribbling skills, as well as his ability to use both his pace and flair on the ball in order to beat opponents, and create scoring opportunities. A versatile forward, he primarily plays as a winger on the right flank. He can also play in the center behind the main striker as an attacking midfielder or second striker.
At international level, following his performances at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Salah was named CAF Most Promising African Talent of the Year. Since then, he finished as runner-up in the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and was top scorer during CAF qualification as Egypt qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Salah started his senior club career in 2010 playing for Al Mokawloon. He joining Basel in 2012 and won two Swiss Super League titles. Salah then joined Chelsea in 2014 but led to successive loans to Fiorentina and Roma. In 2017, Salah signed for Liverpool for a then-club record transfer of £36.9 million.
In his first season with Liverpool, he set the record for most Premier League goals scored (32) in a 38-game season and helped Liverpool to the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final. Salah went on to be an integral player in the club’s Champions League and Premier League title successes the following two seasons, and has since also won the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Salah has achieved numerous individual accolades, including two PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards, three Premier League Golden Boots, the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League Playmaker of the Season, and finished third for the Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2018 and 2021. He received the 2018 FIFA Puskas Award for his winning strike in the first Merseyside derby of the 2017/18 season.
Salah was named CAF African Footballer of the Year and the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2017 and 2018. He was also selected to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament and the CAF Team of the Year on several occasions.
Currently, he is Liverpool’s Premier League top goal scorer. Born Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly, on June 15, 1992, he married Maggi in 2013 and they have two daughters, Makka, born in 2014 and Kayan, born in 2020.
International Career
Salah played for both the Egypt U-20 team and the Egypt U-23 team, representing Egypt in both the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics, scoring a penalty against Argentina in the round of sixteen of the former tournament.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he scored in all three group games. In their opener, he scored Egypt’s second goal against Brazil. He then scored the equalizer in their 1–1 draw against New Zealand and Egypt’s opening goal in a 3–1 win over Belarus in their final group stage game, securing advancement into the knockout stage.
On September 3, 2011, Salah made his debut for the Egypt National team in the 2–1 away defeat by Sierra Leone. He scored his first goal for Egypt in the 3–0 win against Niger on October 8, in qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
2014 World Cup
On June 10, 2012, he scored a goal against Guinea to give Egypt an important 3–2 away victory in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. On June 9, 2013, Salah scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against Zimbabwe. A week later, he scored the only goal away to Mozambique, putting Egypt into the final qualifying group.
On September 10, Salah scored his sixth tournament goal in a 4–2 win over Guinea, securing Egypt a 100% record to finish their qualifying group and becoming the joint-top scorer among all African teams in the qualification stages.
On October 10, 2014, Salah scored in a 2–0 win over Botswana, in qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. On November 19, Salah scored the opening goal in a 2–1 defeat to Tunisia, and Egypt missed out on qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations finals for a third consecutive time.
Salah was a member of the squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon. On January 25, 2017, he scored in Egypt’s 1–0 win over Ghana to secure first place in Group D. He went all the way to the final with Egypt, scoring twice and assisting two times in six games, earning him a place in the CAF Team of the Tournament.
2018 World Cup
Salah was the top scorer for Egypt with five goals during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, including both goals in the decisive 2–1 victory over Congo, one of which was a penalty in the last minute to make the Pharaohs reach their first World Cup finals since 1990. Salah was included in Egypt’s squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Salah scored a penalty in Egypt’s 3–1 defeat to hosts Russia and his second goal in Egypt’s 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.
On September 8, 2018, in a 6–0 win over Nigeria in qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Salah scored two goals and provided two assists. On June 16, 2019, Salah provided two assists in 3–1 win over Guinea in friendly warm-up game for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, wearing the captain’s armband for the first time ever in his international career. Then, Salah scored his first goal of the tournament in Egypt’s 2–0 win over DR Congo.
Club Career
In 2006, he joined the youth team of Al Mokawloon, at the age of 14 and was moved to the senior team at 15. Salah made his senior team debut in the Egyptian Premier League on May 3, 2010. During the 2010/11 season, he scored his first goal for Al Mokawloon and appeared in every game of the 2011/12 season.
Swiss Super League club Basel signed him on April 10, 2012, and he made his debut in a UEFA Champions League preliminary stage match against the Norwegian club Molde on August 8 and his league debut on August 12. Basel comfortably won the Swiss Super League season 2012/13 Championship title and finished runners-up in the Swiss Cup.
In the 2013/14 Swiss Super League season, Salah scored in his first league appearance of the season against Aarau on July 13, 2013 and scored his first Champions League goal against Maccabi Tel Aviv on August 6. Salah left Basel, having played 95 games and scoring 21 goals and signed Chelsea becoming the first Egyptian to sign for the London-based club.
On February 8, 2014, Salah made his debut for Chelsea and scored his first goal for Chelsea against Arsenal in a 6–0 win for the Blues. On February 2, 2015, Salah joined Italian club Fiorentina and made his first start for Fiorentina against Sassuolo, scoring his first goal.
On August 6, 2015, Salah joined Roma. On March 4, he faced his former side Fiorentina and scored as Roma won 4–1. In the 2015/16 season, Salah scored 15 goals in 42 matches as Roma qualified for the Champions League and Salah won the club’s Player of the Season award.
On August 3, 2016, Roma announced the signing of Salah on a permanent deal for €15 million. He scored his first goal of the season on August 20 and scored his first hat-trick on November 6. On May 28, in the final game of the season, Salah was substituted for Captain Francesco Totti, who was playing his final game. Salah scored 19 goals in all competitions.
On June 22, 2017, Salah agreed a transfer to Liverpool on a long-term contract for an initial £36.5m fee that could rise to £43m. The fee was a club record. He was assigned the number 11 shirt and joined the club on July 1, becoming Liverpool’s first Egyptian player.
For his performances in August, Salah was awarded Player of the Month. On October 17, Salah netted twice in a 7–0 Champions League win over Maribor, helping Liverpool to the joint-largest ever away win in the competition, and the largest away win by an English club.
Salah rose to the top of the Premier League goal scoring charts, becoming the joint-second fastest player to reach 20 goals for Liverpool. On March 17, 2018, Salah scored four goals, his first hat-trick for Liverpool. He also broke a record of scoring 36 times in his debut season for Liverpool, and became the leading goal scorer in Europe’s top five leagues.
On April 24, Salah became the first player from Africa and the Liverpool to score 10 goals in a single campaign. His tally of 43 goals for the season across all competitions made him Liverpool’s second-highest goal scorer in a single season.
He would then become the Premier League’s all-time goal scorer for a 38-game season, registering his 32nd league goal in a 4–0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion, en route to being awarded the Premier League Golden Boot. On October 24, Salah scored his 50th goal for the club in 65 games becoming the fastest player in Liverpool history to reach the half century.
On January 19, 2019, he scored his 50th Premier League goal with a brace in a 4–3 win over Crystal Palace, reaching the tally in 72 appearances. In doing so, he became the joint-fourth fastest player to achieve the milestone, alongside Fernando Torres, and behind only Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
On April 5, 2019, he scored his 50th Premier League goal for Liverpool in his 69th appearance, becoming the fastest player to reach the milestone for the club. It also saw him become the third fastest player to reach the milestone for a single club in the Premier League era, behind Shearer for Blackburn Rovers in 66, and Van Nistelrooy for Manchester United in 68.
On April 26, he made his 100th appearance for Liverpool and broke the record jointly held by Roger Hunt and Sam Raybould for the player with the most goals in his first century of appearances for the club, taking his tally to 69.
In December Salah made his 100th Premier League appearance while marking the occasion with a goal in Liverpool’s 3–0 win over Bournemouth. Later, Liverpool won the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, with Salah receiving the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament.
On January 29, 2020, Salah scored Liverpool’s opening goal in a 2–0 win at West Ham, a victory that saw the club beat every team in a Premier League season for the first time in the club’s 127-year history. Salah scored his 70th Premier League goal in 100 appearances for Liverpool, beating the previous best of 63 goals by Fernando Torres.
On September 12, 2020, he became the first Liverpool player to score in four consecutive league openers from 2017/18 to 2020/21, and the second in the Premier League history. He also became the first player to score a hat-trick for Liverpool in the first league match. On October 17, he scored his 100th goal for Liverpool in all competitions in his 159th game, becoming the third fastest in Liverpool’s history.
On January 31, 2021, Salah became the fifth Liverpool player to score more than 20 goals in all competitions in four consecutive seasons, and the first since Ian Rush did so six times running from 1981/82 to 1986/87. On April 24, he scored in a 1–1 draw with Newcastle United, to become the first Liverpool player to score 20 goals in three different Premier League campaigns.
In the 2021/22 season Salah became the first player to score in the opening game of five consecutive Premier League seasons. He scored his 100th Premier League goal in fewer games than any player in Liverpool history, achieving the milestone in 151 games. Salah also became the highest scoring African player and the first Liverpool player to score in ten consecutive games.
On December 7, Salah scored his 20th goal of the season and he became the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush to score 20 goals in five successive seasons. On February 19, 2022, Salah became the 10th player to score 150 goals in 232 games of all competitions for the club, and the second fastest after Roger Hunt (226).
On April 19, Salah became the first Premier League Player to score 5 goals against Manchester United in a single season after scoring a brace in a 4–0 win. In 2022, Salah was named England’s Men’s Footballer of the Year for the second time since 2018. He was also awarded his third Golden Boot at the end of the Premier League 2021/22 season along with the Playmaker of the Season award.
On July 1, 2022, Salah signed a new contract with Liverpool for another 3 years, becoming Liverpool’s highest paid player. On August 6, Salah began the new Premier League campaign and with his eighth goal, he became the first player to score on the opening day six seasons in a row, and equaled the record of total goals on opening days set by Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, and Alan Shearer.
On October 12, in a UEFA Champions League match against Rangers, he scored three goals in the space of six minutes and twelve seconds of an eventual 7–1 win. This saw him break Bafetimbi Gomis’s record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick of all time. With 38 goals, he also became the highest goal scorer for an English side.
On January 7, 2023, Salah secured sixth place on the club’s all-time top scorers’ list, taking his tally for the Reds to 173 from 280 matches. On February 21, Salah became Liverpool’s top goal scorer in European competitions after scoring the second goal of the UEFA Champions League match against Real Madrid in the Round of 16.
Moreover, on March 5, 2023, Salah scored two goals against Manchester United in an historic 7–0 win and became Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League with 129 goals. He also became the first Liverpool player to score against Manchester United in five consecutive games.
(The author is an Associate Professor, International Scholar, winner of Presidential Awards and multiple National Accolades for Academic pursuits. He possesses a PhD, MPhil, and double MSc. His email is [email protected])