How many games could Mo Salah play between now and July as Egypt clinch World Cup qualification | OneFootball

To put it mildly, Mo Salah could be a very busy man over the next nine months!

The Liverpool superstar scored twice in Egypt’s 3-0 win over Djibouti on Wednesday, which secured the Pharaohs’ qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a match to spare.

That’s not the only international tournament on the horizon for the 33-year-old, who’s also set to be involved with his country at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) over the Christmas and New Year, which is traditionally one of the busiest period of the English football calendar.

The fixtures will come thick and fast for Salah at club and international level between now and next summer, and if he’s to remain injury-free throughout that time (fingers crossed), he could have quite the workload.

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

How many games could Salah play in the next 9 months?

October-December

At present, Liverpool have 14 confirmed fixtures in the diary between now and the start of AFCON, with the possibility of one more if they get past Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

That quarter-final would take place the week before Christmas, by which time Salah will be in Morocco to get ready for the African tournament, prior to which Egypt will likely play two friendlies next month in preparation for the continental competition.

Potential games for Salah: 16 (14 Liverpool, 2 Egypt)

Africa Cup of Nations

Egypt’s first AFCON fixture is on 22 December against Zimbabwe, and if they make it to the final on 18 January (which is plausible given that they’re one of Africa’s highest-ranked nations), they’ll play seven matches in total at the tournament.

That’d also be the case if they progress to the semi-finals and lose, as this competition has a third place play-off akin to the World Cup.

Potential games for Salah: 7

(Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

January-May

This is where guesswork comes into play, depending on how far Egypt progress at AFCON and Liverpool advance in knockout competitions.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume that the Pharaohs go the distance in the winter tournament. We’re probably looking at a return date of 24 January for Salah at club level, with the Reds facing Bournemouth on that date.

At that point, Arne Slot’s side would have 16 Premier League matches remaining. If they make it to the finals of both domestic cups and the Champions League (as they did in 2021/22), they’d play a further 17 games between the AFCON final and end of May, should they go into the knockout play-off round in Europe.

There’s also an international window in March when Egypt will almost certainly play a couple of friendlies in preparation for the World Cup.

Potential games for Salah: 35 (33 Liverpool, 2 Egypt)

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

World Cup

The 2026 World Cup begins on 11 June and runs to 19 July, and the expansion to 48 teams has resulted in an additional knockout round which’ll require the participating nations to play eight matches if they’re to win the tournament (or get to the semi-finals).

Egypt won’t be among the favourites to win the whole thing, but with 32 countries advancing from the group stage, it’s plausible that they could make it to the knockout phase. Even if they get to the round of 16, that’d still see them have five games in North America.

Potential games for Salah: 8

Conclusion

Obviously it’s incredibly unlikely that Salah will play in every single game for Liverpool and Egypt over the next nine months, but his robust injury record and enormous importance for both club and country will probably see him feature in the majority of those if he remains fit and available.

The 33-year-old could theoretically play as many as 66 matches in that timeframe, having already racked up 13 since the start of August. Just take a moment to contemplate what it must be like to potentially play 79 games of football at an elite level in the space of a year.

Even a phenomenal physical specimen like the Reds’ number 11 would find such a workload taking its toll!