Mohamed Salah limped off the pitch in the 57th minute against Iran, and roughly 200 million Egyptian hearts skipped a beat simultaneously. The Liverpool forward picked up a left knee injury during Egypt’s 1-1 group-stage draw on June 27, raising immediate questions about his availability for the knockout rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
What Salah told his coach on the sideline
Hassan addressed the injury situation publicly after the Iran match, relaying a direct message from his star forward. Salah told his coach the damage wasn’t as bad as the optics suggested.
“It’s not a big injury.”
That was Salah’s assessment, according to Hassan, who expressed confidence that the 34-year-old would be fit for the knockout stages. The reasoning is straightforward: there’s still adequate time between the end of group play and the start of the elimination rounds for Salah to recover.
