JOHANNESBURG: 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.”
“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 set to qualify
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 favor 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.
Goal-shy Salah seeks change as Egypt eye World Cup place
https://arab.news/2ug6k
Goal-shy 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
The world needs to respect African football, Mali coach Saintfiet says
- “I think the world needs to respect African football” Saintfiet told Reuters
- “Football is not only played in England, or not only played in Germany or in Italy”
BAMAKO: African football deserves greater respect, Mali coach Tom Saintfiet said, after FIFA’s surprise decision to delay the release of players to their national teams ahead of this month’s Africa Cup of Nations.
With less than three weeks until the tournament in Morocco, FIFA announced on Wednesday that clubs needed to release players only from December 15, a week later than the standard international window.
The 35th edition of the biennial tournament, which runs from December 21 to January 18, was originally scheduled for the northern summer to avoid clashing with the European club season, but was later moved to winter.
“I think the world needs to respect African football” Saintfiet told Reuters in a Zoom interview on Wednesday.
Asked about the most suitable timing for the competition, he said: “There is never a perfect solution. If you talk, it’s in the middle of the season, then you think about the west European countries, the majority of them, but they are not ruling the world of football.
“Players who play in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Russia, they are at the end of the season, they have finished the season. So football is not only played in England, or not only played in Germany or in Italy.
“I think Africa has to do what they feel is the best. It has to do with climate... and I think the rest of the world has to start respecting Africa... there are rules (about) two weeks before the tournament and it’s never perfect.
“I mean if there’s a World Cup in June, July, there are other leagues who have to stop. Norway is in the middle of the league, Japan is in the middle of the league, Russia is in the middle of the league, or they are not playing World Cup,” he added.
FRIENDLIES CANCELLED
FIFA’s decision forced Mali to cancel planned friendlies before facing Zambia on December 22, followed by hosts Morocco and Comoros in Group A.
“We will see our players six days before the tournament. We have a different situation... All our players are foreign-based players, so it’s a big consequence for us,” said Saintfiet.
The 52-year-old Belgian coach, who also holds a Gambian passport, will participate in the tournament for the third time, having led Gambia to the quarter-finals in 2021 before they made an early exit in 2023.
He hopes Mali can go far, despite facing Morocco, who reached the 2022 World Cup semifinals, with two teams qualifying from each group.
“Morocco is the big favorite. Fantastic team, good development, fourth in the World Cup and now the host... we are not afraid of Morocco,” added Saintfiet.
“We really look forward to that game. But first we need to face Zambia and we need to be also focused in the last game against Comoros. So every game will be tough.”
The coach aims to restore the success of a team who finished second in 1972 and won bronze medals in 2012 and 2013.
“The aim is to go to the semifinal. We said that when I signed the contract. We are not scared to say that. We know there are many teams in Africa who can reach the semifinal,” said Saintfiet.
“We have to show Africa that we have very good players. And I think we have really good players. I hope everyone will be available. And I think I added as a coach also some tactical discipline and hopefully it’s good enough to reach our goal to play a minimum of the semifinal.”
Mali is the seventh African team Saintfiet has coached, after Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, Togo and Gambia. When asked why he preferred Africa, he said he had chosen it willingly.
“Many European coaches come to Africa because they have no chances in Europe and they are having bad performances or no future anymore. For me, coming to Africa was a real choice. To make a career in Africa and because I love Africa.”
