Mohamed Salah was raised aloft by his Egypt team-mates in wild celebrations on the streets of Vancouver after guiding his nation to a first ever World Cup win.
Pharaohs captain Salah is the poster boy for football in the Middle East, let alone Egypt, so it was fitting that he scored the goal that put his side on the path to victory in a tricky Group G outing against New Zealand.
Having fallen behind to the competition’s lowest-ranked side through Finn Surman’s 15th-minute opener, Mostafa Ziko equalised for Egypt near the hour mark before Salah slotted home to flip the game on its head, with Trezeguet giving the Pharaohs daylight eight minutes from time.
After the 3-1 win, Egypt’s players were filmed outside the stadium basking in their glory, celebrating amongst the fans.
One of their players was holding a speaker as the team chanted in Arabic, the legendary now-former Liverpool winger Salah in the thick of things.
Salah was then lifted onto the shoulders of one of his team-mates to a huge cheer from the Egyptian fans that surrounded the celebrations.
The 34-year-old, deified in his homeland, has won everything there was to win at club level with Liverpool, while also boasting a wealth of individual accolades across a glittering career.
Yet despite Egypt’s status as the most successful African nation of all time, with their Africa Cup of Nations title tally of seven unparalleled, Salah has not enjoyed much joy on the international stage.
Egypt have finished Afcon runners-up twice during Salah’s time in the team, and while he helped guide the nation back to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years in 2018, the Pharoahs last all three games on the global stage.
Their run in Russia acted as a missed opportunity for a first ever World Cup win for Egypt, who also went winless in their two previous appearances in 1990 and 1934. But by ending that 92-year wait in Vancouver, Salah has finally got his moment to savour in an Egypt shirt.
Egypt now sit pretty at the top of their group after also drawing with Belgium in their opener, and are on the verge of qualifying for the knockouts for the first time in their history.
Their final group match will be against Iran on Saturday 27 June in Seattle.
