Goal-shy Mohamed Salah seeks change as Egypt eye World Cup place

Mohamed Salah wants to put a disappointing start to his season with Liverpool behind him on Wednesday and help Egypt beat Djibouti and qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

A win for the record seven-time African champions over one of the lowest ranked teams in the continent will give them an unassailable lead over second-placed Burkina Faso in Group A with one match to spare.

A two-time African Footballer of the Year, Salah has lost his spark with the Premier League champions, scoring just three goals in nine appearances in all competitions this season.

Last season, the 33-year-old netted 29 times in 38 league matches to win the Golden Boot award as Liverpool surged to a record-equalling 20th Premier League title.

Salah has fond memories of playing against Djibouti, scoring four goals in a 6-0 Cairo romp in the opening round of World Cup qualifying two years ago.

It does not help Djibouti that they do not have a FIFA-approved stadium, so their 'home' match against Egypt will be staged in the Moroccan commercial capital Casablanca.

Three subsequent goals took Salah to seven in the qualifying campaign, one less than chart-topper Denis Bouanga of Gabon with two rounds remaining.

Fellow Egypt forward Mostafa Mohamed, who plays for French Ligue 1 outfit Nantes, is not concerned about Salah, telling reporters the lack of goals is "a temporary setback".

Mohamed Salah gestures as he speaks to Marc Cucurella during the match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in London. AP

"Mo is a big star, and we are lucky to have him in our team. He is the best player in the history of Egypt," he told the FIFA website.

"He is amazing. For me, he has a great personality. I love him a lot. He is a wonderful player," added Mohamed, who also scored against Djibouti.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has an embarrassment of attacking riches, Apart from Salah and Mohamed, he can call on Omar Marmoush, Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan and Ahmed 'Zizo' Sayed.

Given Djibouti have lost seven of eight qualifiers and lie 158 places below Egypt in the FIFA rankings, it would be a shock if they prevent the Pharaohs sealing a fourth World Cup appearance.

Algeria and Cape Verde are the other two countries who can clinch places at the World Cup with matchday nine victories, and join already-qualified Morocco and Tunisia in North and Central America next year.

Senegal, reigning African champions Ivory Coast and Ghana could also take unassailable leads, but they must win and hope other group results favour them.

Group C, where Benin lead South Africa on goal difference and Nigeria and Rwanda are three points behind, is the one section where a qualifier cannot emerge before the final round, starting on Sunday.

Like Egypt, Algeria can qualify if they secure maximum points against a much lower ranked opponent. The Desert Foxes have the added advantage of playing an 'away' Group G match against Somalia at home.

Security concerns prevent Somalia staging matches in Mogadishu, and a 163-place rankings gap behind Algeria demonstrates the difficult challenge facing the Ocean Stars in Oran on Thursday.

Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic has called up for the first time Luca Zidane, a 27-year-old goalkeeper with Spanish second-tier club Granada and son of French great Zinedine Zidane.

Luca, who qualifies for Algeria because his paternal grandparents were born there, has switched international allegiance after representing France at youth levels.

Algeria are seeking a fifth appearance at the global showpiece, while Cape Verde are hoping to qualify for the first time. They face Libya in Tripoli on Wednesday.

A former Portuguese colony, Cape Verde is a group of islands off the west coast with about 550,000 inhabitants. Qualification would make them the African country with the smallest population to do so.

Even if the Cape Verdeans fail in Libya, they will get a second chance on Monday to collect three points needed to finish above Cameroon when they host bottom team Eswatini in Group D.

Ghana will win Group I on Wednesday if they beat the Central African Republic and Madagascar do not collect maximum points against the Comoros.

Senegal can qualify from Group B if they win in South Sudan on Friday and the Democratic Republic of Congo fail to win in Togo.

Ivory Coast, who last featured at a World Cup in 2014, would return if they win away to the Seychelles and Gabon lose to the Gambia.

Failure to win a group does not spell the end of the road, though. The four best-ranked runners-up enter African play-offs in November from which the winners go to intercontinental play-offs in March.

Agence France-Presse