Egypt captain Mohamed Salah will have to wait until the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations to achieve a historic personal milestone after falling short of the record during the 2025 edition of the tournament.
Egypt’s AFCON 2025 campaign came to an end on Saturday with a fourth-place finish following a penalty shootout defeat to Nigeria in the bronze medal match. The encounter ended goalless after regulation time, with Nigeria prevailing 4-2 on penalties.
Salah was unable to find the back of the net against Nigeria, a missed opportunity that delayed his bid to become Egypt’s all-time top scorer in the Africa Cup of Nations. The Liverpool forward currently has 11 goals in the competition, drawing level with Hossam Hassan.
Egypt’s outright leading scorer in AFCON history remains Hassan El-Shazly, who holds the record with 12 goals. Had Salah scored in the third-place match, he would have moved past Hossam Hassan and drawn level with El-Shazly at the top of Egypt’s all-time AFCON scoring chart.
As a result, the 33-year-old will now have to wait until the next edition of the tournament in 2027 for another opportunity to claim the title of Egypt’s all-time leading scorer in the Africa Cup of Nations.
After Egypt’s last match at the AFCON, Mohamed Salah is set travel to England next week to join his Liverpool teammates for the rest of the season.
