It seemed inevitable that Mo Salah would dominate the headlines after Egypt’s latest fixture, although it wasn’t just his equaliser against Guinea-Bissau which grabbed attention.
The Liverpool star rescued a point for the Pharaohs with a splendid solo goal in the second half of their 2026 World Cup qualifier, but it was another (apparent) incident which prompted his country’s national association to release a statement.
In light of allegations that the 31-year-old refused to be subsituted, which surfaced after two subs were seen warming up in the closing stages but only one was brought on, the Egyptian FA swiftly came out to refute those accusations.
They stated (via Daily Express): “There is absolutely no truth to the rumours that Mohamed Salah refused to leave the pitch. Salah was not going to be substituted off in the first place. Hossam Hassan was content with only bringing on Nasser Maher.”
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This isn’t the first time that Salah and a substitution have dominated the post-match discussion, with the Egyptian visibly frustrated upon being withdrawn in Liverpool’s season opener against Chelsea last August.
A few weeks ago in the Reds’ 2-2 draw at West Ham, the 31-year-old appeared to argue with Jurgen Klopp just before he was brought off the bench, a flashpoint which overshadowed everything else that happened in an eventful game.
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No footballer likes to be taken off or let kicking their heels in the dugout, although our number 11’s annoyance in such a scenario invariably draws plenty of headlines, with no shortage of pundits queuing up to take a swipe at him.
Admittely it’s not a very good look for Salah to be throwing a strop if he’s substituted, but nor would it give the right impression if he ambled nonchalantly off the pitch as if he couldn’t care less.
In any event, it seems that any accusations that he refused to go off in the Guinea-Bissau game have been misplaced, and that perhaps his reputation went before him in this instance.
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