Read for 2 minutes6 July 2026 05:35 PM IST
Much of Egypt’s hopes will be centered on Mohamed Salah when they take on defending champions Argentina in Atlanta in the round of 16. This is expected as well as the Liverpool legend is the most high-profile player in the line-up and is expected to replicate in some sense what Lionel Messi will do for the South American giants.
Salah had to deal with a hamstring problem throughout the World Cup campaign and scored just one goal in the tournament – against New Zealand in the group stage – before converting a penalty in the tiebreaker against Australia with Penenka’s delightful kick.
However, there is still one metric in which Salah is leading the field at this World Cup. Sky Sports and statistics website Footmob reported that the Egypt captain topped the list of players who created the most chances at the tournament.
According to the figures presented, going into the round of 16 matches, Salah and Belgium’s Leandro Trossard have created 16 chances each, but the former has 4.3 chances per 90 minutes compared to Arsenal’s 4. Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi is third with 14.
Salah’s tally was reached after creating five chances against Australia in the Round of 32. The team have conceded just six goals in their four games so far – half of them against a limited New Zealand side – and need their other forwards to play more efficiently in front of goal against the class of the Albiceleste, especially when their talisman needs to play in the strongman. He is carrying. Apart from Salah himself, the other player who will be heavily tasked with scoring goals will be Imam Ashoor, who not only got his first strike of the World Cup against Belgium, but also opened the scoring against the Aussies. Mahmoud Saber, Trezeguet and Mostafa Zico are on the scoresheet.