Mohamed Salah drops a hint over his Egypt future after World Cup heartbreak

The forward missed Egypt’s first penalty in the shoot-out defeat to Senegal during Tuesday’s World Cup play-off clash

Mohamed Salah hinted his days as an Egypt national team player may soon come to an end during a post-match talk with his teammates.

The 29-year-old missed Egypt’s first penalty in the 3-1 shootout defeat to Senegal on Tuesday, after the two sides finished 1-1 on aggregate across the two legs of a FIFA World Cup play-off qualifier.

As a result, Salah and Egypt won’t compete in this year’s World Cup. The setback came just over a month after losing the Africa Cup of Nations final to Senegal in another shootout.

كلمة وزير الرياضة والنني وصلاح في غرفة خلع الملابس عقب مباراة السنغال.. وتعليق مدحت شلبي#مساء_ONTime pic.twitter.com/vmk4MTWwWZ

— OnTime Sports (@ONTimeSports) March 30, 2022

What did Salah say?

Salah was later caught on camera in the dressing room giving a frank speech to his Egypt teammates.

“I told the players before the second match that I am proud to play with them and they are among the best I have played with,” he said.

“I played for some time with the previous generation, with Wael Gomaa and Mohamed Abu Trika, then Abdullah Al-Saeed and his generation, but I’m happy with the current generation.

“I am proud to play with you and it was an honor for me, and what happened cannot be interfered with by anyone because for the second time it is a penalty shootout (after the AFCON final).

“There is not much I can say but it has been an honor to play with you, whether I will be in the national team after that or not.”

Egyptian Minister of Sports, Ashraf Sobhi, however, interrupted him, saying: “You will be there.”

What next?

Salah will report back to Liverpool this week for the Premier League clash against Watford on Saturday.

The Reds are hot favorites to win the match, with Bet365 pricing a home victory at 1.12 at the time of writing. This suggests they have a 89% chance of all three points at Anfield.