Mohamed Salah

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 Liverpool FC. Salah is a three-time recipient of the Golden Boot, the award for the Premier League’s top scorer of the season.

Salah was born to middle-class parents in Basyoun, Egypt, north of Cairo. As a youth, he idolized such professional football players as Brazilian Ronaldo and French 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.

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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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 would receive the Golden Boot again during the 2018–19 and 2021–22 seasons.) 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 honour. Salah helped Liverpool secure the Champions League title in 2019, scoring on an early penalty kick during the team’s 2–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the final match. Salah was again Liverpool’s top goal scorer in 2019–20. He made 19 goals and 10 assists that season as the team captured the Premier League title.

In addition to his success with professional clubs, Salah was a driving force on the Egyptian national team. After initially playing on Egypt’s under-20 and under-23 teams, Salah made the first of his many appearances with the senior national squad in 2011. He led the team to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations final where Egypt lost to Cameroon 2–1. Later that year he helped Egypt qualify for the 2018 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. Salah and Egypt returned to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021, where they finished in second-place after losing to Senegal 4–2 in the tournament’s final game.