Salah on Verge of Becoming Top-Scoring Egyptian of All Time

Salah on Verge of Becoming Top-Scoring Egyptian of All Time
TT

Salah on Verge of Becoming Top-Scoring Egyptian of All Time

Salah on Verge of Becoming Top-Scoring Egyptian of All Time

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will become the highest scoring Egyptian of all time if he finds the net against Brentford in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday.

Salah has scored 313 goals in a brilliant career for club and country, with stats app Five Star Football saying he equalled former Egypt captain Hossam Hassan’s record with a penalty in Liverpool's 1-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, Salah has scored 185 times for Liverpool since joining in 2017 and will catch former captain Steven Gerrard, the fifth-highest scorer in the Merseyside club's history, with another goal. Ian Rush leads the Liverpool all-time list with 346.

Egypt's 30-year-old skipper Salah is Liverpool's record Premier League scorer with 136 goals and has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup with the club.

Salah's other club goals came at AS Roma (34), Fiorentina (9), Chelsea (2), Basel (20) plus 12 for his childhood club Al-Mokawloon Al-Arab.

On the international front there is some debate about the precise number of goals for both players. Salah has 51, but two of those came in a semi-official 10-0 friendly win against Swaziland in 2013.

Hossam, who won 176 caps during his stellar 19-year international career that brought three African Nations Cup titles, is credited with 76, though several of those are considered to have come in unofficial matches.



FIFA to Consider One-off Expansion to 64 Teams for 2030 World Cup

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 General view of the World Cup trophy during the closing ceremony before the match REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 General view of the World Cup trophy during the closing ceremony before the match REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
TT

FIFA to Consider One-off Expansion to 64 Teams for 2030 World Cup

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 General view of the World Cup trophy during the closing ceremony before the match REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Final - Argentina v France - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - December 18, 2022 General view of the World Cup trophy during the closing ceremony before the match REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo

Soccer's governing body FIFA is to consider expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams to mark the centenary of the sport's marquee event, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, where the inaugural edition was staged, set to host three games.

The World Cup has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams for next year's edition in the US, Mexico and Canada, Reuters reported.

The New York Times said the latest proposal from Ignacio Alonso, a delegate from Uruguay, suggesting expanding the 2030 edition to 64 nations was made at the end of a meeting.

The newspaper, which did not name its sources, said the proposal was met with 'stunned silence' by the participants.

"(FIFA president) Mr Infantino ... described the proposal as an interesting one that should be analyzed more closely," the New York Times added, according to "four people with direct knowledge of the discussions."