Liverpool and Egyptian talisman Mohamed Salah have been ruled out of the next two Africa Cup of Nations games due to a hamstring injury, his country’s football association announced Friday.
“Tests on Mohamed Salah, the captain of the Egypt national team, proved that he suffered a hamstring injury and will miss the next two matches of the team at the AFCON,” the Egyptian FA said in a statement.
Salah, 31, was substituted late in the first half of Egypt’s 2-2 draw against Ghana on Thursday.
He will consequently sit out Monday’s last group game against Cape Verde, as well as any subsequent last-16 tie.
After drawing their first two games of the competition, the record seven-time African champions must beat already-qualified Cape Verde to advance to second place in Group B.
This would set up a last-16 tie in San Pedro on January 28, and they might also qualify as one of the best third-place teams.
He will consequently only play again in the competition if Egypt advances to the quarterfinals on February 2 or 3.
Egypt needed an injury-time penalty from Salah to preserve a 2-2 draw with Mozambique in their first game of the tournament.
On Thursday, they had to come from behind twice to draw with Ghana, with Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed scoring the goals, leaving them with two points from two games.
The last of Egypt’s seven Cup of Nations championships came in 2010, a year before Salah made his debut.
