Salah shines against Ethiopia and nears a historic record!

The captain of Egypt's national team, Mohamed Salah, is just steps away from breaking a historic record held by former Pharaohs striker, Hossam Hassan, after his latest goal against Ethiopia.

Salah is now only 9 goals away from matching Hossam Hassan's record as the top scorer in Egypt's team history, with 69 goals.

Furthermore, "Abu Mekkah" has solidified his record as the top scorer for the "Pharaohs" in African World Cup qualifiers, with 17 goals.

Egypt surpasses Ethiopia and continues to dominate Group A

The Liverpool winger scored his 60th international goal against Ethiopia on Friday night at the "Al-Arabi Al-Zawouli" stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, during the match for the 5th day of the African World Cup qualifiers for 2026.

By securing a 2-0 victory over Ethiopia, Salah's teammates maintained their top spot in Group A with 13 points, 5 points ahead of their direct pursuers, Burkina Faso, who occupy second place, while Sierra Leone holds third place with the same number of points. Guinea-Bissau is in fourth position with 6 points, followed by Ethiopia in fifth with 3 points, and Djibouti closes the group with just one point.

It is noteworthy that the team in the first place of the 9 groups qualifies directly for the World Cup finals, while the four best second-placed teams will enter another intercontinental qualifying phase to secure an additional ticket.

Also read: World Cup 2026 Qualifiers: why was Emam Achour kicked out of Egypt's team?

Mohamed Rek |

Editorfr, ar, en

Mohamed Rek- sports content writer with over 10 years of experience creating football content in Arabic and French for platforms such as Foot Africa and Starafrica, combining accuracy, creativity, and audience engagement.