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Mohamed Salah

Egyptian football player
Also known as: Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly
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Mohamed Salah (born June 15, 1992, Basyoun, Egypt) is an Egyptian soccer (association football) player known for his prolific scoring, which made him an invaluable contributor to both the English Premier League and the Egyptian national team. Salah was named 2017 African Footballer of the Year and the Premier League’s player of the season in 2017–18 after scoring 32 goals in a single season as a forward for English football club Liverpool FC. Salah has won the Golden Boot, the award for the Premier League’s top scorer of the season, multiple times.

Early life and career

Salah was born to middle-class parents in Basyoun, Egypt, north of Cairo. As a youth, he idolized such professional football players as Brazil’s Ronaldo and France’s Zinedine Zidane, whose moves he tried to emulate during pickup games. He joined the Egyptian club El Mokawloon’s youth team at age 14 and debuted with the club’s senior team in 2010. Salah’s speed and scoring ability soon caught the attention of Swiss club FC Basel, which signed him to a contract in 2012. He helped lead FC Basel to the Swiss Super League title and an appearance in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Europa League semifinals in 2012–13. That season he received the Swiss Golden Player award as the Super League’s outstanding player.

Club career

Salah transferred to Chelsea FC of the Premier League in January 2014, where he struggled initially despite high expectations. He started in only six Premier League matches with the club before he was loaned to Fiorentina of Italy’s top league, Serie A, in February 2015. Salah’s play improved dramatically after his move to the Italian league, and later that year Chelsea loaned him to another Serie A team, AS Roma. He completed a permanent transfer to AS Roma before the 2016–17 season, and during that season he recorded 19 goals and 13 assists and was chosen as AS Roma’s Player of the Year.

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Finding success at Liverpool

Salah returned to the Premier League in July 2017 after signing to play for Liverpool. He netted an astonishing 32 goals in Premier League matches in 2017–18, setting a Premier League record for the most goals scored by a player during a single 38-game season. He received the Golden Boot as the Premier League’s top scorer, and that season he also led Liverpool to the UEFA Champions League final, where the team lost to Real Madrid 3–1. Salah finished the season with an overall tally of 44 goals in all competitions. He garnered the Premier League’s Player of the Season award in May 2018, and he was only the third Liverpool player and the first Egyptian to receive that honor. Salah won another Premier League Golden Boot and helped Liverpool secure the Champions League title in the 2018–19 season, scoring an early penalty kick during the team’s 2–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the final. Salah was again Liverpool’s top goal scorer in 2019–20. He scored 19 goals and had 10 assists that season as the team captured the Premier League title.

Second title and leaving Liverpool

Salah scored 22 goals in 37 matches for Liverpool during the 2020–21 season. In 2021–22 he won his third Premier League Golden Boot, with 23 goals that season. In July 2022 he signed a new three-year contract with Liverpool. During the 2022–23 season, Salah became Liverpool’s top scorer in the Premier League when he scored his 129th league goal in a match against Manchester United in March 2023. He was named Liverpool’s Player of the Season for the fourth time in the following season. In 2024–25 Salah became the first player in the history of the Premier League to win the Golden Boot (29 goals), Player of the Season, and Playmaker awards in a single season and helped Liverpool win its second Premier League title. In April 2025 he signed a contract extension that would potentially keep him at the club until 2027. However, in March 2026 Salah announced that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2025–26 season.

Joining Trabzonspor

In August 2026 Salah joined Turkish football club Trabzonspor. He made his debut for the team in the Turkish Süper Lig, the country’s top-tier professional football league, later that month.

International career

In addition to his success with professional clubs, Salah is a driving force on the Egyptian national team. After initially playing on Egypt’s under-20 and under-23 teams, he made the first of his many appearances with the senior national squad in 2011. He has played more than 110 matches, scoring more than 60 goals, for his country.

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World Cup appearances

Salah helped Egypt qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. It was the first time that Egypt had qualified for the tournament since 1990. Salah scored two goals in Egypt’s three World Cup matches in Russia, though the team failed to advance past the tournament’s group stage. In September 2019 Salah was appointed the captain of the Egyptian national team, which failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. In October 2025 Salah scored two goals for Egypt during its 3–0 win in an international fixture against Djibouti, which sealed Egypt’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup. He contributed a goal to Egypt’s 3–1 victory over New Zealand in the tournament’s group stage. Egypt were knocked out in the round of 16 by Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

Africa Cup of Nations

Salah helped the team reach the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, where Egypt lost to Cameroon 2–1. He was part of the Egyptian team that returned to the AFCON in 2021, where it again finished in second place after losing to Senegal 4–2 in the tournament’s final game. During AFCON 2023 Salah became the first Egyptian player to score in four editions of the competition. At AFCON 2025 Salah scored a goal during Egypt’s victory against Côte d’Ivoire in the quarterfinals, becoming the first player in the tournament’s history to score against 11 different African countries.