Very rarely has a single player had the weight of an entire country on his shoulders for a World Cup.
The likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo may spring to mind as examples, but with more skilled supporting casts, they are not in the same boat as Mohamed Salah.
After netting a stunning 44 times for Liverpool in his debut season - with still a Champions League final to come - Egypt will be pinning their hopes on him in Russia despite an injury in the Champions League final.
2018 World Cup Qualification
After an early scare against Chad in the second round of CAF qualifying, the Pharaohs largely eased through their group in the final round.
Wins over Congo and Ghana set them on their way, and although they were pegged back in Uganda, three wins in a row guaranteed their spot at the World Cup finals.
dabblebetOf course, Salah scored the goal that confirmed their place when he converted a 94th minute penalty at home to Congo - his fifth goal in qualifying.
World Cup History
This will be just Egypt's third tournament and their first since 1990 when they crashed out in the group stages.
In fact, the north African outfit have never tasted victory at the finals, with two draws and two losses to their name from their previous World Cups.
Abdulrahman Fawzi's brace against Hungary in 1934 means he is their top scorer, but that could be under threat this time around as Egypt face Russia, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group A.
2018 World Cup Squad
| GK | DEF | MID | ST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherif Ekramy | Mohamed Abdel-Shafy | Mahmoud Abdel Aziz | Marwan Mohsen |
| Essam El-Hadary | Ayman Ashraf | Mohamed Elneny | Mohamed Salah |
| Mohamed El-Shenawy | Ahmed Elmohamedy | Tarek Hamed | |
| Ahmed Faty | Mahmoud Kahraba | ||
| Omar Gaber | Sam Morsy | ||
| Ali Gabr | Abdallah Said | ||
| Mahmoud Hamdy | Shikabala | ||
| Ahmed Hegazi | Ramadan Sobhi | ||
| Mahmoud Trezeguet | |||
| Amr Warda |
Latest World Cup odds
| Market | Price |
|---|---|
| To win the World Cup | 150/1 (151.0) |
| To make the World Cup final | 50/1 (51.0) |
| To win Group A | 17/4 (5.25) |
| To qualify from Group A | 5/4 (2.25) |
| To be the Top African team | 5/2 (3.50) |
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