Mohamed Salah ends 92 years of Egyptian World Cup hurt

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane had all had huge performances to spark their countries into this World Cup. Salah has joined them but done something bigger — that moment of belonging.

MAGIC MO-MENT: Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring his team's second goal. Pic: Fran Santiago/Getty Images.

The late June sun sets slowly in Vancouver. Plenty of time to get down to any of the city’s nine beaches to take in the spectacle. Iona Beach is good, Kitsilano too. The one they didn’t waste too much time naming is among the best — Sunset Beach.

Simplicity. Lot to be said for it.

A hazy, lazy Sunday evening isn’t opportune learning time but the regular timetable is thrown out at a World Cup. As New Zealand dished out a pitch-perfect lesson in keeping things simple, a setting light began filtering through the perspex panels of BC Place’s intricate retractable roof.

Mohamed Salah walked through the streaking golden shards and made his way towards the dressing-room at the western end. More accurately he trudged through the beams. After 45 minutes of timid toil Salah was in all-too-familiar territory.

The Pharaohs had spent the entire half overthinking and underdelivering and were 1-0 down to New Zealand thanks to the most simple of openers, a front-post corner put on the big, shaved head of the All Whites’ tallest player, Finn Surman.

Only two Egyptians had had fewer touches than Salah and the captain’s head was bowed as he disappeared into the half-light of the tunnel. No country at this World Cup has waited longer for a tournament victory — 92 years of Egyptian hurt stretching back to their first appearance in 1934.

Salah has achieved so much in this game. Underneath 11 major trophies listed on his Wikipedia page the ‘Individual Honours’ section contains 47 bullet point entries. A total of 52,497 made their way here on Sunday evening with Egyptian jerseys outnumbering New Zealand ones, Canada kits not far behind. The next most popular attire was a Liverpool shirt, most of them with Salah’s name and number on his back.

Having wrapped up his career on Merseyside, even on a dispiriting note, there’s a pretty solid argument that Salah has nothing more to do in club football. In his homeland, the first African country to qualify for a World Cup, there is however one bullet point which has remained jammed in the barrel. That first bloody win at one of these bloody things.

Almost exactly an hour later, Salah was walking again. It was the 83rd minute and the strips of sunlight were thicker now and had moved up off the grass to bathe the lower bowl. All inside here rose and most of them roared to acclaim Salah as he undid his armband and made for the sideline. In front of the press box a portly man dressed as a pharaoh shook his fist so fervently that the Velcro on his faux golden cuff bracelet gave way.

There was no real gold, no hardware at all, on offer in Vancouver but Salah still managed to add to his honour list and his greatness. A simple and stunning burst of his brilliance was all it took to elevate him into a new pantheon — especially at home.

He played a brief cameo in the equaliser on 58 minutes, distracting Surman enough for Mostafa Ziko to ghost behind and bullet a header past Max Crocombe. Nine minutes later Salah’s 68th international goal arrived and was worth more than every one which came before.

It was the kind Anfield and elsewhere has seen so many times. He picked up a Ziko pass on the left, cut and carried all of his threat towards the box. He poked a perfect little pass back into Ziko who flicked it back to him in a flash and Salah stroked it home as he fell to his left. He was up and wheeling towards the corner, jumping and pumping a fist. Then he was no longer there, engulfed by Egyptians.

Twenty two long minutes separated them from history. They’d been so sloppy in the first half that it certainly didn’t feel safe. The vibes hadn’t been great coming in here either. Manager Hossam Hassan was forced to address rumours of a rift between him and Salah on Saturday.

This is Hassan’s 17th managerial job in 18 years. His last was with Modern Future FC. That club is now named as Modern Sport FC but has also been known as Future FC and Coca Cola FC. Doesn’t scream prestigious football factory.

Salah’s supporting cast here, Omar Marmoush aside, isn’t nearly as talented as those he had around him in Russia eight years ago. He was fighting for fitness then. Four years later, when the World Cup came to the Arab and Muslim world for the first time, he wasn’t there, Egypt failing to qualify. A genuine shame. But here, at 34 years old, he had the chance to finally get it done. An opening draw with Belgium in Seattle was promising. New Zealand and Iran up next in this wider, 48-team gathering offered huge opportunity.

The captain and king decided not to risk 22 tense minutes and instead brought a monumental relief, whipping in a corner 10 minutes from time which Trézéguet headed home. Back home, where this game had kicked off at 4am local time, tens of thousands erupted in the darkness.

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane had all had huge performances to spark their countries into this World Cup. In just over 20 minutes, Salah had joined them but done something bigger — that moment of belonging. A first-ever appearance in the knockout stages is a certainty. At the final whistle, bare feet but with black ankle supports he walked almost every blade on a solo lap of honour.

“It’s incredible. I don’t know how to express it in words,” he said afterwards. “I hope we can write [more] history and qualify first. In years to come you will remember it as one of the best achievements.”

Why wait years? Outside, the streets that snake away from BC Place were already rammed with ruby red jerseys. There was dancing and weeping and joyous wailing, palms raised and duas sent up above. So this is what it feels like.

Back in Cairo the celebrations continued to rage as the sun rose. A new day, one unburdened by 92 years that came before. A great day, pure and simple.