For the second time in just over a month, Senegal and Egypt locked horns in a thrilling and high-stakes game. Back in February, these two continental powerhouses faced off in the Africa Cup of Nations final. This time around, they met in the third and final round of the CAF World Cup qualifiers.
And just like they did in Cameroon, the Lions of Teranga emerged triumphant, beating the Pharaohs on penalties to seal their ticket to Qatar 2022 at the expense of Salah and Co.
This match-up took place over two legs, but with the game tied 1-1 on aggregate after 120 minutes in the second leg, a penalty shootout was required in order to determine the winner. Salah was one of three Egyptian players to miss from the spot, with only Amr El Soleya finding the back of the net. Bamba Diang and Ismailia Sarr had already scored for the AFCON holders before Sadio Mane netted the decisive penalty to send his country through to the FIFA World Cup.
Given that for the second time running, Mane handed the final blow to his Liverpool teammate, the former Southampton winger was asked what he would say to his heartbroken friend. Sadio's response was straight-forward: luck was what brought joy to Senegal and commiseration to Egypt.
"I won twice and he lost twice, I was luckier to come out on top," the Senegalese ace told ONTime Sports, as per KingFut.
"I am very proud that we won the Africa Cup of Nations and now qualified for the World Cup, it's a dream I had."
Mane also went on to thank the home crowd as this tie was held in Dakar. The champions of Africa lost the first leg 1-0 in Cairo, but with the support of their loyal fans, the Lions of Teranga leveled the score line before eventually triumphing on penalties.
"I believe it was a difficult game for both teams," Sadio added.
"Our fans pushed us to win and we didn't stop fighting. We knew the game wouldn't be easy, but we pressed to score."
However, this fixture wasn't without controversy. During the shootout, every single Egyptian penalty taker was subjected to a hoard of lasers in order to distract the player. Additionally, video has since emerged showing Salah getting pelted by the crowd while walking off the pitch.
Senegal join the likes of Cameroon, Ghana, Tunisia, and Morocco as one of Africa's five representatives at this year's FIFA World Cup. Egypt weren't the only continental powerhouse to miss out as Nigeria were also denied a spot at Qatar 2022 that same day.
