Mohamed Salah became the all-time top scorer for the Egyptian national team after scoring a brace against Malawi in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers, raising his tally to 70, surpassing the previous record recorded in the name of his former coach, Hossam Hassan.
The 34-year-old spent most of the past decade breaking records in England, where he became Liverpool's all-time top scorer in the English Premier League, as well as the most goals-scoring African player in the history of the competition.
Salah, a Turkish Trabzonspor player, scored two goals in a 5-0 win over Malawi to surpass Hassan, whose number has stood for nearly three decades, and withstood generations of Egyptian strikers before Salah finally equaled him, in the first match the national team played after the local federation separated from coach Hassan.
Salah played today's match under the leadership of new coach Ali Maher, who took over from Hassan and led the team in his first match with the Egyptian national team.
Hassan scored 69 goals in 176 international matches between 1985 and 2006, confirming his place among the greatest strikers in Africa.
Hassan was a prominent figure in Egyptian football for more than two decades, as he won the African Cup of Nations three times, and contributed to the Egyptian national team qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, after an absence of 56 years.
On the other hand, Salah created a different, but no less important, legacy.
His goal from a penalty kick in stoppage time against Congo in 2017 won Egypt’s qualification for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years, and he also helped the Pharaohs’ team reach the final of the African Cup of Nations in the 2017 and 2021 editions.
He also contributed to Egypt's return to the 2026 World Cup, as his fourth goal in the finals made him Egypt's all-time leading scorer in the World Cup, confirming his status as the face of the awakening of Egyptian football over the past decade.
Hassan's international career spanned more than two decades, beginning with ending Egypt's long wait to appear in the World Cup in 1990, all the way to his contribution to winning the 2006 African Cup of Nations, the first title in an unprecedented series of three consecutive continental titles.
As for Salah, he has become a symbol of the modern era for the Egyptian national team, as he led the team’s return to the World Cup and became one of the biggest stars of the game in the world.
The Tunisia national team's mission to reach the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania was complicated, after losing at home to its guest Libya 0-2, on Friday, at the Tayeb Mhiri Stadium in the city of Sfax, in the third round of the eighth group of qualifiers.
Tunisia's national team suffered its first defeat in the qualifiers after two draws in the first and second round with Uganda 1-1 and Botswana 2-2.
The Tunisia national team's score froze at two points, falling to the fourth and last place in the group, while the Libyan national team raised its score to 4 points, topping the group standings on goal difference over Uganda.
The Ugandan national team, which is ranked second on goal difference behind Libya, will meet its Botswana counterpart, on Saturday, in the same round’s competitions.
The two teams, Libya and Tunisia, will meet again next Tuesday in Tripoli, in the fourth round, in a match that will be fateful for the Tunisian team, which previously won the 2004 African Cup of Nations title on home soil.
The Libyan national team took the lead from a penalty kick through Ali Youssef in the 44th minute, then Hamdo Al-Huni added the second goal in the 62nd minute.
The match began with attacking attempts by the Tunisian team, led by striker Fares Shawat. He tried to pose a threat to the goal of the Libyan national team and its goalkeeper, Ayman Al-Tihar.
On the other hand, the Libyan national team sought the services of its captain and star, Hamdou El-Houni, a former Esperance player, trying to benefit from his experience in Tunisian football during that confrontation.
The referee awarded a penalty kick to the Libyan national team after Ali Maaloul intervened on Moaz Issa, the Libyan national team's winger, and Ali Youssef successfully translated it into the net, scoring the first goal for his team.
The Libyan team's performance improved after advancing in the score, and its players tried to find other solutions in order to score a second goal, amid the Tunisian defense's anticipation.
The rest of the minutes of the first half did not witness anything new, and the referee blew the final whistle, giving the Libyan national team a 1-0 lead.
At the beginning of the second half, the Tunisian team intensified its attempts to score the equalizer against its Libyan rival, who showed great defensive solidity.
The Tunisian team scored a goal that was disallowed by the referee in the 59th minute, through Anas Ben Slimane, due to offside.
In the 62nd minute, Hamdo Al-Huni scored the second goal for the Libyan national team, with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area, scoring the second goal for his team.
Despite the Tunisian team's attempts to return to the match over time, the Libyan team succeeded in closing its penalty area and keeping many dangerous chances away from its goal, succeeding in coming out with the three points.
