Egypt to create unique piece of football history without Mo Salah in AFCON last 16 clash

Mohamed Salah will miss the chance to create football history with Egypt when they play in the Africa Cup of Nations last-16.

Salah's AFCON campaign has not gone according to plan, not least because he suffered a hamstring injury in his side's second game.

After scoring an injury-time equaliser in Egypt's opener, the Liverpool star limped out of the 2-2 draw with Ghana a few days later.

In his absence, Egypt only just sneaked into the last-16 to avoid an embarrassing group stage exit.

Salah watched on from the stands as the Pharaoh's conceded a 99th minute equaliser to Cape Verde, a goal that looked to have dumped them out of the competition.

Egypt's blushes were spared though as Mozambique scored two injury-time goals against Ghana, meaning Salah and his teammates qualified for the knockouts at the Black Stars' expense.

Egypt's celebrations were wild, although they will set an unwanted record when they take to the field in the last-16.

The seven-time AFCON champions will face DR Congo on Sunday, after the central African nation finished second in Group F.

For the first time ever in a men's major international tournament, two teams will meet in a knockout tie without winning any of their group games.

Mohamed Salah celebrates Egypt advancing to the next round of the Africa Cup of Nations. Image: Getty

Egypt drew all three of their group stage matches 2-2, while DR Congo drew 1-1 with Zambia and Morocco before securing their place in the last-16 with a goalless draw against Tanzania.

Salah won't be able to help his teammates against DR Congo, and depending on the seriousness of his injury, his tournament might already be over.

After watching his side's final group game, Salah returned to Liverpool for treatment on his hamstring.

On Monday Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed that Salah's injury is more serious than first thought, but Egypt manager Rui Vitoria wasn't happy with the German coach.

When asked why Egypt didn't immediately disclose the seriousness of Salah's injury, Vitoria said: We didn’t want to alarm anyone. I didn’t think it was right for Liverpool, via any intermediary, to speak about this, because we had a tremendously important game today."

Topics: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Africa Cup Of Nations, Premier League, Egypt

Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton is a Sports Trends Writer at SPORTbible. He has previously worked with publications including the Manchester Evening News, GOAL and BBC Sport. He is a football fanatic, but also dabbles in tennis and American football. He enjoys running, cooking and watching non-league football.

@alex_brotherton