Nervous Mohamed Salah said he only decided at the last minute to use his penalty under immense pressure to help Egypt reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup final on Friday.
The former Liverpool superstar and Egypt captain finished third in the shootout for his country and scored a “Panenka” as they defeated Australia 4-2 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 in Texas.
Egypt, which won a knockout match at the World Cup for the first time, will next play against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
The 34-year-old Salah was clearly nursing a hamstring injury but played the full 120 minutes and stood up for his country when they needed him.
«If anyone was going to do it, it would be me. I have more experience than others and I wanted to give them confidence,» said Salah, who looked emotional afterwards.
“I decided at the last minute: I had to do it.”
Salah declared ‘history’ for Egypt and told his teammates to enjoy it after African football’s great underachievers finally made their mark on the biggest stage.
READ ALSO | Salah and Egypt hold their nerve to claim a piece of World Cup history with shootout victory
Salah could be at his last World Cup and said: “I always try to enjoy every moment because it won’t come back.
“So I always say to the boys, ‘just enjoy the moment’, and probably in a few minutes tonight we’ll see how we’re going to celebrate outside the bus now.
“But we can’t take it for granted because Egypt – I don’t know how many times I’ve said the word – it’s never happened before that we’ve qualified in a group stage and never qualified for the next round, so it’s just a moment to enjoy.”
Apart from his penalty in the shootout, Salah has one goal and two assists at the tournament in North America so far and is averaging one goal for his country every other match.
Published on July 4, 2026
