Mohamed Salah suffered heartbreak at the hands of Sadio Mane‘s Senegal once again, with Egypt missing out on a place in the final after a 1-0 defeat.
There will be no AFCON crown for Salah this year after his journey in the competition came to a heartbreaking end in the semi-finals.
Mohamed Salah at AFCON: What next?
- Title hopes end:Salah suffered semi-final heartbreak as Egypt fell 1-0 to Sadio Mane‘s Senegal, ending their hopes of an AFCON title.
- The detail:Egypt were defensively stifled, with Salah limited to just 30 touches and zero actions inside the Senegal penalty area across the 90 minutes.
- Next step:Salah is expected to remain in Morocco for the third-place playoff on Saturday, meaning he would miss the Burnley game and be expected back on Merseyside early next week.
The match itself was not an advertisement for thrilling attacking football, with Egypt failing to muster a shot until after 80 minutes, while Senegal managed 12, four on target, and a goal in that time.
Mane had the decisive moment in the 78th minute, with a fortunate deflection giving him the time and space to hit a powerful strike into the back of the net for 1-0.
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Egypt, who had named an unchanged lineup from the side that secured the 3-2 win over Ivory Coast in the quarter-final, were then forced to come out of their shell to force extra time.
Salah was well corralled by West Ham‘s Malick Diouf throughout and although Egypt threw on forward after forward, they could not find the equaliser.
Liverpool’s No. 11 had just 30 touches on the night and not a single one was inside Senegal’s penalty box, summing up their defensive strategy.
Senegal have had Egypt’s number in recent years, winning the 2021 final between the two teams and later knocking them out of World Cup contention in 2022.
Will Mo Salah return to play for Liverpool against Burnley?
Egypt’s tournament is not over despite their semi-final defeat, as AFCON will host a third-place playoff between the two semi-final losers.
It means Salah’s side will face either Nigeria or Morocco on Saturday, the day Liverpool host Burnley in the Premier League.
While it remains to be seen if the 33-year-old will be involved in the Bronze final, he is unlikely to leave his team before the tournament officially ends.
It is a possibility, which will no doubt be confirmed in the days to come, but his likeliest return to Merseyside is the start of next week, when Liverpool travel to Marseille and Bournemouth.
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Author:Joanna Durkan
Published on:2026-01-14 23:06:00
Source: www.thisisanfield.com
Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification. We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2026-01-15 00:34:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com