Mohamed Salah to miss Egypt’s friendly against South Africa despite Hossam Hassan’s assurances

Mohamed Salah will not play for Egypt in Sunday’s friendly against South Africa, despite manager Hossam Hassan previously saying the captain would return to the squad.

The situation follows Salah’s departure from Egypt’s training camp after he was substituted after 60 minutes of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Angola at Cairo Stadium.

Salah left the camp the following day amid reports that he was unhappy with the decision to replace him. There was also reported tension within the squad after comments by Hassan regarding injured goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.

The Egyptian Football Association subsequently said Salah’s absence from the second-round qualifier against South Sudan had been agreed with the coaching staff. It stated that the player did not want to play on an artificial pitch.

However, Hassan said at the news conference before the South Sudan match that Salah would return to the Egypt squad for the meeting with South Africa.

Reports from 61saat, a website specialising in Trabzonspor news, indicate that Salah has instead left England to spend a short holiday with his family before returning to Turkey to rejoin his club’s training camp.

That would rule him out of Egypt’s friendly against South Africa and represents a change from Hassan’s earlier expectation that the forward would be available.

According to the report, Salah agreed with the Egypt coaching staff that he would miss the match to avoid becoming fatigued before the Turkish league resumes. Trabzonspor’s next fixture is against Samsunspor on 10 October.

Hassan’s comments after Egypt’s match against South Sudan may also have played a part in Salah not returning to the national team. The manager appeared to indicate that he was unhappy with the player’s conduct.

Salah’s departure comes after Egypt’s opening qualifier against Angola and the subsequent decision for him to miss the match against South Sudan. The Egyptian Football Association had presented that absence as an agreement between the player and the coaching staff, linked to the artificial playing surface.

The latest reports suggest that Salah will now remain with Trabzonspor as he prepares for the return of domestic competition, rather than rejoining Egypt for the South Africa friendly.