The last hurrah? Mohamed Salah, Egypt faces high stakes at 2026 FIFA World Cup

Egypt

Egypt has been a real powerhouse of African football. It has won seven Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) titles. Yet it has not been able to make any headway or have a big impact in the FIFA World Cup. It was the first African nation to enter the World Cup finals in Italy in 1934. Thereafter, it qualified in 1990 and 2018 and after seven matches in three competitions, it is still looking to notch a first win! It will play Belgium, New Zealand and Iran in its group. The battle lines are drawn. And an anxious Mohamed will be tested.

Salah - in spite of suffering a shoulder injury in the Champions League final against Real Madrid in 2018 - scored on two occasions in two matches at Russia 2018, but Egypt did not proceed beyond the group stage, losing to Russia, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. In fact, 2018 was his first season with Liverpool, and he had scored 32 goals and assisted in ten. His second World Cup comes at the end of his nine-year stint at Anfield with 191 goals. In all, Salah, one of the greatest seen in the EPL, has scored 237 goals in 456 club matches in Switzerland, Italy and England.

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Salah is 33, and the FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico could be his last hurrah for the Pharaohs. He is the captain of the side. He scored nine goals in the qualifiers, and the home fans are full of expectations. But then football is a team sport, and Salah would have to inspire the squad to shine in June - July. It has an uphill task to go past the preliminary group stage.

Salah has not had the best of times with Liverpool this season, starting in 23 matches of the 27 he played. But according to his teammate Mahmoud Hassan, "He is the best player in the world. His presence is extremely important for us. Not only as a star, but also as a leader who gives us confidence and strength."

Salah is a superstar. “I believe he will achieve something with the Pharaohs at the 2026 World Cup. I played with him since the early days of his international career — we were together at the London 2012 Olympics and the 2018 World Cup. He always made the difference, and I hope he will do it again in the United States," said former Egypt captain Ahmed Fathi.

Salah did not feature in Egypt's drawn match against Belgium and 4-0 win against Saudi Arabia in March -April. These two results came after losses against Nigeria and Senegal. Egypt has played 36 matches after Doha 2022 and won 29, with losses against South Africa, Tunisia, DR Congo, Senegal, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Croatia.

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Egypt has a 3-1 win record against Belgium since 1999, a 1-0 win record against New Zealand, and has yet to play Iran. It plays two warm-up games against Russia and Brazil to tune up before starting the World Cup campaign.

The team is coached by 59-year-old Hossam Hassan, who played three World Cup matches in 1990. He was the coach of the top Egyptian club Al Masry over five stints and was with Jordan for a year. He was called upon to coach the national team in early 2024 and has been at the dugout for 30 matches, winning 21. He believes that Salah has to be helped by other senior players to deliver something big for the country. He says the drawn match against Belgium was a good confidence-boosting outcome.

Tunisia

Four years ago, the North African country shocked France at the Qatar World Cup, but having lost to Australia and drawn the match against Denmark, it did not advance to the second stage.

It found its feet in the Qualifiers for 2026 -- in the African continent, winning nine matches, drawing one, and not conceding a goal. It used 31 players and scored 22 goals in the home and away qualifiers against Malawi, Namibia, Liberia, Sao Tome and Equatorial Guinea. Clearly, there was not much of a challenge for a team that was seeking to enter a world-class event.

Tunisia will take the World Cup field for the seventh time, one less than Cameroon, which has eight. It was the first African nation to win a World Cup finals match, 3-1 against Mexico in Argentina 1978.

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There was a lot of action, though, on the coaching front when Tunisia - following its African Cup of Nations round of 16 elimination against Mali in Morocco - sacked its coach Sami Trabelsi and the technical staff.

This happened in January this year; Sami was replaced by Sami Lamiuchi, who has had a two-year stint with the Ivory Coast twelve years ago. The Frenchman made changes in the squad in friendlies against Haiti and Canada in March and April. In fact, he introduced ten freshers for the first friendly against Haiti. He will get a chance to work out formations in the two warm-up games against Austria and Belgium.

Also known as the Eagles of Carthage, Tunisia will take on Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands. There are no recent events between Tunisia, Sweden and the Netherlands, but it has a 1-4 losing record against Japan.

Coach Lamouchi announced a 26-man squad that has the most visible face in midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, who has played 129 matches in the EPL and leagues in Europe.

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Ghana

After qualifying for the World Cup finals, Ghana lost five FIFA friendly matches to Japan, South Korea, Austria, Germany and Mexico, conceding 12 goals.

As an aftermath of the horrific run, the Ghana Football Association terminated the services of Manager Otto Addo. The GFA, then, appointed Portugal's 73-year-old Carlos Queiroz as the new head coach.

Ghana, aka the Black Stars are grouped with Panama, England and Croatia, and it will have to play out of its skin to advance to the second round of 32. Ghana's warm-up game is against Wales. It has not played so far against Panama and Croatia, and held England 1-1 in a FIFA friendly in 2011.

Ghana is one of the nine to directly qualify from the CAF Africa. It was in action in Qatar four years ago. Overall, it will be Ghana's fifth World Cup finals appearance.

African teams are peculiar in the sense that they punch above their weight when in the mood, but come a cropper in a sequence. Ghana's progress will all depend on the outcome of its match against Panama. They can be brutal once they get the better of Panama and win three points. It scored five goals in the last five matches, but hit five against Central Africa and four against Trinidad & Tobago friendlies, which shows that it has the knack of getting goals. The World Cup, though, will be a different cup of tea!