We take a look at the Mohamed Salah AFCON record as Liverpool's ‘Egyptian King' takes centre stage at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the Ivory Coast this month. Salah has never won AFCON with Egypt before, and came so close when they lost on penalties to Senegal in the 2022 final. As such, the 31-year-old will be desperate for revenge, as we highlight his AFCON record and also give some early predictions for Egypt's group games.
Mohamed Salah AFCON record
Appearances
Salah has made 17 appearances in total across the last three AFCON tournaments, reaching the semi-finals in 2017, the round of 16 in 2019 and the final in 2022.
Goals
Salah has scored a total of six goals at AFCON, two in each of the previous three tournaments.
Assists
Salah has made three assists at AFCON, two in 2017 and one most recently in 2022.
Win-rate
Salah has won an impressive 12 of the 17 games he has played at AFCON, drawing once and losing just four times.
Captain
Salah has captained Egypt seven times at AFCON – in every match on the run to the 2022 final.
Impact since 2022 AFCON
After the 2022 AFCON final, Salah and Egypt had the opportunity to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but missed out in qualifying to you guessed it – Senegal. They had to pick themselves up quickly, as they had AFCON qualifying matches coming up.
Salah missed two of those matches, but scored two goals and supplied three assists in the others as Egypt won five of their six group games. After the last World Cup qualification heartbreak, two more qualification games for the 2026 tournament were played in November, where Salah reminded everyone of his quality.
The forward netted no fewer than four times in Egypt's opening 6-0 win over Djibouti, while he also grabbed an assist in the following 2-0 victory against Sierra Leone. Salah also managed two goals and one assists in friendlies in between qualifications, including an assist in an impressive 2-1 win over Belgium in November 2022.
Early Egypt predictions
14th January Egypt vs Mozambique – Salah to score two goals or more
For all his quality, Salah has never netted more than one goal in a game at AFCON before, and we think he could break his duck against Mozambique in his opener. The Mambas are the lowest-ranked side in the group, and have not played at AFCON since 2010, so Salah and Egypt's experience should get them comfortably over the line here.
18th January Egypt vs Ghana – Egypt to draw or lose
Ghana should be Egypt's toughest opponents in the group stages, and we think the Black Stars could take one or even all three points off the Pharaohs. They boast plenty of AFCON pedigree having won it four times, and have stars like West Ham United's Mohammed Kudus that can really hurt Egypt. As such, Salah may find it difficult, although we still expect to him to have a good tournament, as we have predicted him to be named in the team of the tournament for the second AFCON running.
22nd January Cape Verde vs Egypt – Salah first goalscorer and Egypt to win
Egypt may go into the final group game against Cape Verde needing a win to reach the knockouts, should they drop points against Ghana. We expect Salah to lead by example as captain here, and get himself on the scoresheet first – as he did in the 2022 group stage against Guinea-Bissau. This should calm the nerves of the Pharaohs, who should then go on to beat the Blue Sharks and race into the knockout stages.
