With his Liverpool future uncertain, Mohamed Salah was on international duty at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Egypt.
The 33-year-old was one of the most high-profile players at the tournament in Morocco, where the Pharaohs were considered among the contenders for glory before the start of play.
Egypt are the most successful team in AFCON history, lifting the trophy seven times but going out at the last-16 stage at the preceding 2023 edition in Ivory Coast.
Here’s what you need to know about Mo Salah’s schedule and record at AFCON, as well as his possible return date for his club.
Mo Salah: Egypt AFCON fixtures, schedule
All three of Egypt’s group-stage matches took place in Agadir, starting against Zimbabwe on December 22.
They then reached the last 16 courtesy of Salah’s penalty against South Africa before finishing the initial phase by resting Salah and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush in a draw with Angola.
Salah scored in the 124th minute of Egypt’s last-16 win over Benin and struck again in their 3-2 victory over holders Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.
One of Salah’s former Liverpool teammates, Sadio Mane, scored the only goal for Senegal to knock Egypt out in the semi-finals.
Monday, December 22
Egypt 2-1 Zimbabwe (Agadir)
Friday, December 26
Egypt 1-0 South Africa (Agadir)
Monday, December 29
Egypt 0-0 Angola, Agadir
Mo Salah AFCON knockout schedule
Round of 16: Egypt 3-1 Benin (after extra time), January 5, Agadir
Quarter-final: Egypt 3-2 Ivory Coast, January 10, Agadir
Semi-final: Egypt 0-1 Senegal, January 14, Tangier
Third-placed play-off: Egypt vs Nigeria, January 17, Casablanca (16:00 GMT / 11:00 ET / 08:00 PT)
Trademark Mo Salah 🤌#TotalEnergiesAFCON pic.twitter.com/4QVDTb2CWA
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) August 18, 2023
How to watch Mo Salah at AFCON: TV channel, live online stream
In the UK, live AFCON 2025 coverage is on Channel 4. In the USA, beIN Sports is the tournament broadcaster.
Online live streaming is available on a vast range of devices through Channel 4’s website and app and the beIN Sports app.
When is Mohamed Salah back from AFCON?
The earliest Salah could return from AFCON is after the third-place play-off on January 17.
Liverpool Premier League fixtures: When could Salah play?
The next game Salah could realistically be available for is Liverpool’s trip to Bournemouth on January 24 (17:30 GMT / 12:30 ET / 09:30 PT), assuming he is not carrying any injuries and does not need extra rest.
They then host Qarabag in the Champions League on January 28 (20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT)
Is Mohamed Salah leaving Liverpool?
Salah’s AFCON participation could allow a cooling-off period between the footballing icon and Liverpool after the reigning Premier League champions’ early-season slump was compounded by disgruntled remarks made by their star forward.
Having failed to start four matches in a row, Salah said he felt he had been “thrown under the bus” and claimed his relationship with manager Arne Slot had broken down following a 3-3 draw at Leeds United on December 6.
Liverpool left Salah out of their squad for their subsequent 1-0 win at Inter in the Champions League, but tensions appeared to ease following discussions between Slot and the player, who came off the bench to set up the second of Hugo Ekitike’s goals in a 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion on December 13.
That was Salah’s final game so far of a Liverpool career in which he has scored 250 goals in 420 appearances.
Slot’s side are unbeaten since Salah was dropped following a 4-1 European home defeat to PSV.
At his best, Salah’s involvement empowers Liverpool with one of the best forwards in Premier League history – and their asking price if the Saudi Pro League make a mooted move for the Egypt captain in January is likely to be higher if he is not in dispute with the club.
British-record £125 million signing Alexander Isak and £79m France forward Ekitike formed part of Liverpool’s attack for their impressive result in Milan, demonstrating the abundance of options Slot has up front.
When the moment demands leadership, legends rise. 🌟
Salah words before 🇪🇬 vs 🇨🇲 penalty shootouts in 2021 #TotalEnergiesAFCON. pic.twitter.com/bLd6ND618M
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) February 26, 2025
Has Mohamed Salah won AFCON?
Salah has never been an AFCON champion, although he helped Egypt reach the final of the 2017 and 2021 tournaments.
After scoring two goals at each of the three editions from 2017, Salah scored in his nation’s opening 2-2 draw with Mozambique at the 2023 finals but missed almost all of the rest of their run to the round of 16 through injury.
Egypt joined Algeria and Ivory Coast in going unbeaten through World Cup qualifying and could be favoured by the 2025 tournament taking place in North Africa, although host country Morocco could take some stopping, earning a record-extending 19th consecutive win in international football by beating Comoros 2-0 in the first game.
AFCON 2025 groups, teams
Group A
Comoros
Mali
Morocco
Zambia
Group B
Angola
Egypt
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Group C
Nigeria
Tanzania
Tunisia
Uganda
Group D
Benin
Botswana
DR Congo
Senegal
Group E
Algeria
Burkina Faso
Equatorial Guinea
Sudan
Group F
Cameroon
Ivory Coast
Gabon
Mozambique
The top two teams from each group, plus the best four third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.
AFCON 2025 fixtures, full Africa Cup of Nations schedule
All times are GMT.
Sunday, December 21 2025
Group A: Morocco 2-0 Comoros (Rabat)
Monday, December 22 2025
Group A: Mali 1-1 Zambia (Casablanca)
Group B: South Africa 2-1 Angola (Marrakech)
Group B: Egypt 2-1 Zimbabwe (Agadir)
Tuesday, December 23 2025
Group D: Senegal 3-0 Botswana (Tangie)
Group D: DR Congo 1-0 Benin (Rabat)
Group C: Nigeria 2-1 Tanzania (Fes)
Group C: Tunisia 3-1 Uganda (Rabat)
Wednesday, December 24 2025
Group E: Burkina Faso 2-1 Equatorial Guinea (Casablanca)
Group E: Algeria 3-0 Sudan (Rabat)
Group F: Ivory Coast 1-0 Mozambique (Marrakech)
Group F: Cameroon 1-0 Gabon (Agadir)
Friday, December 26 2025
Group B: Angola 1-1 Zimbabwe (Marrakech)
Group B: Egypt 1-0 South Africa (Agadir)
Group A: Zambia 0-0 Comoros (Casablanca)
Group A: Morocco 1-1 Mali (Rabat)
Saturday, December 27 2025
Group D: Benin 1-0 Botswana (Rabat)
Group D: Senegal 1-1 DR Congo (Tangier)
Group C: Uganda 1-1 Tanzania (Rabat)
Group C: Nigeria 3-2 Tunisia (Fes)
Sunday, December 28 2025
Group F: Gabon 2-3 Mozambique (Agadir)
Group E: Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Sudan (Casablanca)
Group E: Algeria 1-0 Burkina Faso (Rabat)
Group F: Ivory Coast 1-1 Cameroon, (Marrakech)
Monday, December 29 2025
Group B: Angola 0-0 Egypt (Agadir)
Group B: Zimbabwe 2-3 South Africa (Marrakech)
Group A: Comoros 0-0 Mali (Casablanca)
Group A: Zambia 0-3 Morocco (Rabat)
Tuesday, December 30 2025
Group C: Tanzania 1-1 Tunisia (Rabat)
Group C: Uganda 1-3 Nigeria (Fes)
Group D: Benin 0-3 Senegal (Tangier)
Group D: Botswana 0-3 DR Congo (Rabat)
Wednesday, December 31 2025
Group E: Equatorial Guinea 1-3 Algeria (Rabat)
Group E: Sudan 0-2 Burkina Faso (Casablanca)
Group F: Gabon 2-3 Ivory Coast (Marrakech)
Group F: Mozambique 1-2 Cameroon (Agadir)
Africa Cup of Nations 2025 round of 16
Saturday, January 3 2026
SR1: Senegal 3-1 Sudan (Tangier)
SR2: Mali 1-1 Tunisia (3-2 on penalties) (Casablanca)
Sunday, January 4
SR3: Morocco 1-0 Tanzania (Rabat)
SR4: South Africa 1-2 Cameroon (Rabat)
Monday, January 5
SR5: Egypt 3-1 Benin (after extra time) (Agadir)
SR6: Nigeria 4-0 Mozambique (Fes)
Tuesday, January 6
SR7: Algeria 1-0 DR Congo (after extra time) (Rabat)
SR8: Ivory Coast 3-0 Burkina Faso (Marrakech)
Africa Cup of Nations 2025 quarter-finals
Friday, January 9
QF1: Mali 0-1 Senegal (Tangier)
QF2: Cameroon 0-2 Morocco (Rabat)
Saturday, January 10
QF3: Algeria 0-2 Nigeria (Marrakech)
QF4: Egypt 3-2 Ivory Coast (Agadir)
Africa Cup of Nations 2025 semi-finals
Wednesday, January 14
SF1: Senegal 1-0 Egypt (Tangier)
SF2: Nigeria 0-0 Morocco (2-4 on penalties) (Rabat)
Africa Cup of Nations 2025 third-place match
Saturday, January 17
Egypt 0-0 Nigeria (2-4 on penalties) (Casablanca)
Africa Cup of Nations 2025 final
Sunday, January 18
Senegal vs Morocco (Rabat, 19:00)
