Fansided

Russia 2018: The best player on every team at the World Cup

By Kristofer McCormack

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 32
Next
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – MARCH 23: Mohamed Salah of Egypt during the International Friendly match between Egypt v Portugal at the Letzigrund Stadium on March 23, 2018 in Zurich Switzerland (Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images)
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – MARCH 23: Mohamed Salah of Egypt during the International Friendly match between Egypt v Portugal at the Letzigrund Stadium on March 23, 2018 in Zurich Switzerland (Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images) /

Egypt: Mohamed Salah

There were few better feel-good stories from the World Cup qualifiers than Egypt. The African side have suffered some painful lows since they last qualified for the World Cup in 1990, failing to qualify to the African Cup of Nations between 2013 and 2015, despite being its most successful side with seven wins. Luckily for Egypt, coach Hector Cuper has turned fortunes around, leading the Pharaohs all the way to the African Cup of Nations final last year, where they lost to Cameroon before qualifying for their first World in nearly 30 years in dramatic circumstances.

In their penultimate qualifier, Mohamed Salah scored a 95th minute penalty to secure World Cup qualification for his side. The Liverpool winger will be key to his country’s hopes, having scored in five of Egypt’s six qualifiers in the final round of qualifying and if his club form is anything to go by, the 25-year-old won’t disappoint.

The former Roma man is on course to break the Premier League record for most goals in a 38-game season and is also on track to reach the 50-goal mark for the season. He tops the Golden Shoe race over the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane. It’s a stunning debut season, but it would be unfair to say the Egyptian has been solely responsible for such stunning numbers as he’s supported by some truly talented teammates on Merseyside. With all respect to his national teammates, Salah won’t have the same support for Egypt as he has had for Liverpool and he’ll need to continue to show the clinical touch if he wants his country to succeed in Russia.

Honorable mention: Ahmed Khalil

Home/World Cup