Salah becomes the hero who brings Egypt to the World Cup after 28 years

The Liverpool midfielder scored both goals in Egypt's 2-1 win over Congo.

Salah in the opening goal of the match. Photo: Reuters.

Goals: Salah 63', penalty 90'+5 - Moutou 87'

Egypt, led by "Second Runner-up" Hector Cuper, entered the penultimate round of matches with the goal of winning against bottom team Congo in hopes of securing an early ticket.

The home team had to wait until the second half to open the scoring through Mohamed Salah. The midfielder, a mainstay at Liverpool, sprinted past the goalkeeper with his signature run-up.

Arnold Bouka Moutou was the one who silenced the Alexandria stadium with an equalizer for Congo just three minutes before the official match ended. If the score remained the same, Egypt would have to wait until the final round to face strong opponents Ghana.

Egypt's efforts to push their squad up to secure a ticket in this match were rewarded. Substitute Trezeguet was fouled by defender Beranger Itoua in the box. Under pressure to score, Salah coolly converted to seal a 2-1 victory.

With the remaining match between Ghana and Uganda ending in a 0-0 draw, Egypt have secured their ticket to the next round. Egypt has 12 points, four points ahead of second-place Uganda with just one round left.

The star currently playing for Liverpool will decide much of Egypt's performance in the summer of 2018. Photo: Reuters.

This is only the third time the army of the land of the pyramids has participated in the world's biggest playground. The last time was in Italy 1990 when they were eliminated in the group stage. Before that, it was also more than half a century since their first World Cup in 1934.

During the nearly three decades away from the World Cup, Egypt won the African Cup of Nations four times in 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. However, they have never carried that form into the World Cup qualifying stage.

Egypt became the second African team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after Nigeria. Goalkeeper El Hadary, who turns 45 next year, is likely to break the record for the oldest player to appear in a World Cup. The previous record was held by Faryd Mondragon, who was 43 when he played for Colombia at the 2014 World Cup.

According to VNE