Mohamed Salah celebrated with a sheet of paper marked "70" on Friday night — but by Saturday, FIFA had settled the argument the other way: on FIFA's official count, Salah has 68 international goals, not 70, and Hossam Hassan's all-time Egypt scoring record still stands.
The correction came from FIFA itself. In its report after Salah's goal against New Zealand at the 2026 World Cup, FIFA's website put Salah's tally at 68. As the debate grew on Saturday, FIFA amended that report to 66 goals before the Malawi match, acknowledging an error in the count. Add Salah's two goals against Malawi on Friday, and the official total is 68 — one short of Hassan's 69.
So what happened on the pitch was never in doubt. Egypt beat Malawi 5-0 at Cairo International Stadium on Friday, November 13, in the third round of Group B in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers — a winning debut for new head coach Ali Maher. Nasser Maher, Omar Marmoush and Mohamed Hany put Egypt 3-0 up by half-time. Salah, ending a four-match scoring drought for Egypt dating back to his World Cup goal against New Zealand, headed in a cross from substitute Ibrahim Adel in the 84th minute and then converted a stoppage-time penalty with a Panenka finish for the fifth goal.
The dispute is entirely about two goals from the start of Salah's international career. In a friendly against Swaziland — now Eswatini — on March 22, 2013, Egypt won 10-0 and Salah scored twice, in the 12th and 44th minutes. FIFA does not recognise that match in its official records, because Egypt's coach at the time, Bob Bradley, made far more substitutions than the rules allow for a recognised international friendly (reports put the number at 10 or 11 changes). The match does not appear in FIFA's list of Egypt fixtures, and the two goals are excluded from Salah's FIFA tally. Some statistical databases, such as France's Stats Foot, count every Egypt match and put Salah at 70; others, such as Transfermarkt, follow the FIFA count of 68.
Hossam Hassan scored 69 goals for Egypt between 1985 and 2006. On FIFA's records he remains Egypt's all-time top scorer — for now. Salah needs one more goal to equal the record and two to hold it alone.
He may not have to wait long. Egypt play Malawi again on Tuesday, November 17, away at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, in the fourth round of qualifying. Egypt top Group B with seven points from three matches, three points clear of Angola, who have a game in hand. One goal on Tuesday would put Salah level with a record that has stood for two decades; two would settle the debate for good — this time on every count.
Sources: FIFA website report and correction, reported November 14, 2026; Kooora, November 14, 2026; Btolat, November 14, 2026; 365Scores, November 14, 2026.
Post a Comment