عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

African Players in Europe: Salah Takes Liverpool Back to Top

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - November 2, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - November 2, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)
TT
TT

African Players in Europe: Salah Takes Liverpool Back to Top

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - November 2, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - November 2, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)

Mohamed Salah took Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League with the winning goal as the Reds came from behind to defeat Brighton 2-1 at the weekend.

It was the ninth goal of the season in all competitions for the 32-year-old Egypt captain and two-time African Player of the Year.

The goal came amid continuing speculation over the future of Salah, with his contract due to expire at the end of this season.

Here, AFP Sport highlights some African headline-makers in the major European leagues.

ENGLAND

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

The forward struck in the 72nd minute with a superb curling finish from the edge of the area. Liverpool are two points clear of second placed Manchester City after winning eight of their first 10 league games.

JORDAN AYEW (Leicester)

The Ghana forward was the Foxes' last-gasp hero again as he rescued a 1-1 draw at Ipswich. Steve Cooper's side were in danger of losing to winless Ipswich until Ayew came off the bench to strike from close-range deep in stoppage time. Ayew's third goal this season was his first since netting a stoppage-time winner in Leicester's 3-2 victory at Southampton in October.

ANTOINE SEMENYO (Bournemouth)

Ghana winger Semenyo helped the Cherries claim a shock 2-1 win against champions Manchester City. The 24-year-old netted in the ninth minute with a composed finish from Milos Kerkez's cut-back. It was the hosts first win against City at the 22nd attempt.

SPAIN

MUNIR EL HADDADI (Leganes)

Morocco international El Haddadi scored a brilliant goal against Girona in his team's 4-3 defeat. The 29-year-old Spain-born former Barcelona forward cut in from the right and launched a shot into the top corner from distance after 77 minutes having come off the bench just moments earlier. It was his second goal in two matches after netting for Leganes against Ciudad de Lucena in the Copa del Rey.

ITALY

ADEMOLA LOOKMAN (Atalanta)

The London-born Nigerian international grabbed two goals as Atalanta stunned Serie A leaders Napoli 3-0 in the sunshine at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium. Lookman's second goal, a curled shot after shaking off two Napoli defenders, was particularly memorable.

GERMANY

OMAR MARMOUSH (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Marmoush was on fire again in Eintracht Frankfurt's 7-2 demolition of Bundesliga tailenders Bochum, with the Egyptian named man of the match after scoring one goal and creating two. The 25-year-old Egyptian international curled home a free kick on 18 minutes. He has scored 10 goals this season, one less than Bayern Munich and England star Harry Kane.

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy scored the winner as Borussia inflicted a first Bundesliga defeat of the season on RB Leipzig with a 2-1 home win. Probably the only Dortmund player who can hold his head high after recent poor form, Guirassy was a constant threat up front. With the match locked at 1-1 and half an hour remaining, the Guinea international headed in Maximilian Beier's looping cross.

FRANCE

ABDOULAYE TOURE (Le Havre)

Toure played a captain's role by scoring the only goal as Le Havre defeated Montpellier 1-0 in a battle of Ligue 1's bottom two clubs. The France-born Guinea international, who was key in the club's promotion to the top flight for this season, struck from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute after Mali international full-back Falaye Sacko was penalized for handball.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Spain Aim for World Cup Date with France by Beating Belgium

DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 07: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain reacts during the training at Cotton Bowl on July 07, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images/AFP
DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 07: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain reacts during the training at Cotton Bowl on July 07, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images/AFP
TT
TT

Spain Aim for World Cup Date with France by Beating Belgium

DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 07: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain reacts during the training at Cotton Bowl on July 07, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images/AFP
DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 07: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain reacts during the training at Cotton Bowl on July 07, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images/AFP

European champions Spain are on a World Cup collision course with Kylian Mbappe's France if they can beat Belgium in the quarter-finals on Friday.

At the spectacular SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the Belgians face the daunting task of breaking through a Spanish defense that is yet to be breached in the tournament.

If Spain win, they will head to Texas next Tuesday for a mouth-watering semi-final against the French that many observers are already describing as the final before the final.

First though Spain need to find goals against a Belgium team who started the World Cup slowly but caught fire as the tournament has gone on.

The 4-1 demolition of the USA in the last round showed just how far the team coached by Rudi Garcia have come in the space of a few weeks.

Spain meanwhile have not displayed the attacking flair of France but they are playing the possession-based football that carried them to the country's only World Cup triumph, in South Africa in 2010.

Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, who turns 19 next week, is Spain's standout attacker but he arrived in the United States after suffering a late-season injury and has seemed a peripheral figure at times, scoring just once in five games.

Yamal, widely tipped to inherit the mantle of the world's greatest player once Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally leave the stage, could be due a goal.

"We know that the best version of him, the attacking Lamine, is something that we haven't quite seen yet in this World Cup. Not to the level that we're used to," said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente on Thursday.

In Yamal's absence, Mikel Oyarzabal has scored four times, including twice in the 3-0 defeat of an outclassed Austria in the last 32 at SoFi.

Spain have conceded just six shots on target in their five matches so far.

Belgium looked leaden and their stars ageing when they opened their group-stage account.

But they showed their mettle in an exciting defeat of Senegal in the last 32, when Youri Tielemans came to the fore to drag his team back from 2-0 down to a 3-2 victory after the introduction of Romelu Lukaku as an impact substitute.

The Belgians then demolished the USA in the last 16, in a game overshadowed by Donald Trump's intervention to get US striker Folarin Balogun's red card from the previous round cancelled.

That move fired up the Belgians, who gently mocked Trump with an on-field imitation of the president's Y.M.C.A. dance.

The World Cup is likely the last hurrah for the remainder of Belgium's so-called Golden Generation, including Lukaku, former Premier League player of the year Kevin De Bruyne and towering 'keeper Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid.

Belgium are comfortable with their status of underdogs.

Coach Garcia said on Thursday: "Everyone is already talking about us going home. But we think that we can do it.

"We think we can pull it off, and we're going to do everything we can to get to the semis."

On Thursday, France underlined their credentials by turning what was expected to be a tight quarter-final with Morocco into a clinical 2-0 win in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The Moroccans were restricted to a handful of shots as Mbappe first had a penalty saved and then grabbed his eighth goal of this World Cup and 20th overall before Ousmane Dembele completed the job.

Mbappe was substituted later and applied an ice pack to his foot, but was quick to reassure France fans that it was nothing serious.

He will be relishing facing whichever defence is put in front of him next.

Sports

Football Troubles in London after France Beat Morocco

French fans celebrate their team on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco, 10 July 2026. EPA/Fadi Yousef
French fans celebrate their team on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco, 10 July 2026. EPA/Fadi Yousef
TT
TT

Football Troubles in London after France Beat Morocco

French fans celebrate their team on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco, 10 July 2026. EPA/Fadi Yousef
French fans celebrate their team on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco, 10 July 2026. EPA/Fadi Yousef

British police battled football fans in central London early Friday after France beat Morocco in a World Cup quarter final.

One police officer was injured and four people were arrested following the "violent disorder", AFP quoted London police as saying.

Images shared on social media showed dozens of people stood in Edgware Road, near Hyde Park, and some throwing bottles and other objects at police.

Police said the trouble started after people blocked traffic in the road.

"The incident then escalated with the group throwing bottles and setting off fireworks," a spokesman said. "One officer was taken to hospital for head injuries, it is believed he had been hit by a glass bottle."

Sports

Disappointment at Morocco's World Cup Exit Cannot Mask Pride

Fans' hopes were sky-high for the World Cup after Morocco stunned the footballing world by reaching the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar. Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP
Fans' hopes were sky-high for the World Cup after Morocco stunned the footballing world by reaching the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar. Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP
TT
TT

Disappointment at Morocco's World Cup Exit Cannot Mask Pride

Fans' hopes were sky-high for the World Cup after Morocco stunned the footballing world by reaching the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar. Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP
Fans' hopes were sky-high for the World Cup after Morocco stunned the footballing world by reaching the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar. Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP

The vuvuzelas fell quiet in Morocco on Thursday as the only African team left in the World Cup came up against the insurmountable hurdle of France and Kylian Mbappe.

The team that had shown such swashbuckling football in the previous rounds produced an under-par performance as they fell 2-0 to the French in the quarter-final in Foxborough, Massachusetts, said AFP.

Azirar, 18, was still reeling from the defeat after watching the game in Rabat.

"It was a really difficult match for Morocco," he said, although he had to admit that "France deserved to win."

Fans' hopes were sky-high for the 2026 tournament after Morocco stunned the footballing world by reaching the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar, led by world-class captain Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain.

On that occasion they also lost 2-0.

Having added outstanding young talent Ayyoub Bouaddi to that squad, and with exciting forward Ismael Saibari leading the attack, many believed Morocco could even topple France this time and progress to the last four again.

Mustapha Garni, 24, said: "I really hoped we'd win and reach the semi-finals, but that's not how it turned out."

'Fought to the end'

Before the game, excitement was at fever pitch in the capital.

On a packed cafe terrace, a crowd waving Moroccan flags and wearing red and green scarves eagerly awaited kickoff and stood to sing the national anthem, just as the players did in the United States.

The crowd erupted in cheers when goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved Mbappe's penalty in the 28th minute.

Their joy was short-lived though -- on the hour mark, Mbappe curled in a shot that evaded Bounou as the ball flew into the net.

Silence descended on the cafe terrace in Rabat. Some fans looked stunned and others slumped in their chairs.

The cheering resumed, though without the same enthusiasm -- and when Ousmane Dembele killed the game as a contest with France's second goal, the party was over.

Ghizlane Elidrissi, 26, said she felt huge pride regardless.

"They fought to the very end," she said.

The fans have plenty to look forward to -- Morocco are one of the co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup, along with Spain and Portugal.

In four years time, "we hope to go to the final", said Mustapha Garni.

"It's a dream that will always stay with us and, God willing, we will win the cup!" he added.