Mohamed Salah 2.0: How Hossam Hassan’s tactical reboot could end Egypt’s World Cup pain

Egypt have a peculiar, almost non-existent relationship with the World Cup, with the Pharaohs' failures to even reach the 2006 and 2010 finals a black mark against the nation's vaunted Golden Generation that three-peated at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Mohamed Salah made his international debut a little over a year after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and has since risen to become the team's talisman and leader.

However, one of the greatest players in African football history — if not the greatest — still has his legacy questioned because of Egypt's inability to secure an eighth Africa Cup of Nations title.

Losing the AFCON finals of 2017 and 2021 to Cameroon and Senegal respectively has weighed heavily on the 34-year-old, whose latest and possibly final opportunity came and went on North African soil in Morocco, where the seven-time champions lost to the Lions of Teranga in the semi-finals.

At that tournament, Hossam Hassan — the legendary former Egypt forward and the national team's all-time leading goalscorer — appeared to lean on his star man, as Pharaohs managers have tended to do over the last decade or so.

That decision came midway through what was arguably Salah's most underwhelming season at Liverpool, marked by the deterioration of his relationship with Arne Slot and a drop-off in both his raw and underlying numbers.

Salah's seven goals in the 2025-26 season represented his worst return in any top-flight campaign since his half-season spell in 2014-15 at Fiorentina, for whom he scored six times in 16 appearances.

Beyond the decline in final-third execution, however, was his sudden physical regression. While this was always likely at some point, given he was 33 heading into the 2025-26 season, the dramatic nature of it was undeniably startling.

Perhaps recognising his captain's decline, Hassan's approach in Egypt's 1-1 draw with Belgium was instructive.

Here, Sports Mole highlights the traits of Salah the playmaker and facilitator in the Pharaohs' tournament-opening draw, ahead of the North African nation's pursuit of a first-ever World Cup win against New Zealand on Sunday.

How Salah's role changed vs Belgium

Although Salah has always assumed a creative role for the national team, Hassan's approach appeared to lean even more heavily on that side of his game against Rudi Garcia's Belgium.

The forward had only one touch in the opposition area, a header saved by Thibaut Courtois, but it was what he did for the rest of the game that truly caught the eye.

With his pace to dart in behind now almost non-existent, there was a greater willingness to drop deeper to receive possession and either carry the ball into advanced areas or pick out better-placed teammmates to shoot or create a goalscoring opening.

Most of Salah's carries in Egypt's tournament-opening draw came in their own half or the middle third of the pitch, with none in the final third.

Despite going off with 14 minutes of the 90 remaining, Salah finished with the joint-most chances created (three), one of which set up Emam Ashour's thunderous strike to open the scoring for Egypt, even if they could not hold on for an elusive win on the day he turned 34.

This seemingly dominant facilitator role, though, places a greater burden on the collective, which could either elevate Egypt's prospects of finally winning a game on the global stage or ultimately harm them.

Salah's World Cup role puts onus on Egypt colleagues to step up

It is still far too soon to draw firm conclusions, but Hassan's approach produced mixed results in the Pharaohs' draw with Belgium.

While Ashour's strike underlined the benefits of platforming Salah's teammates, Omar Marmoush's wayward finishing exposed the downside.

The Manchester City man had the most touches in the opposition box (eight) and took the most shots (five); however, many of those efforts were blocked (three) while two were poor misses, including one that could have doubled the Pharaohs' advantage on the hour.

Mostafa Ziko, for his part, did not impress before being withdrawn for Zizo in the final 15 minutes, a disappointment given the Pyramids FC forward had scored in back-to-back games against Russia and Brazil before the World Cup finals.

Zizo, who replaced the 29-year-old, has also shown game-deciding qualities for Hassan's side, having scored one and set up another in March's 4-0 hammering of Saudi Arabia.

With Trezeguet an unused substitute against the Red Devils, Hassan still has the team's second-highest scorer in qualifying to call upon to share the match-winning burden with the Egyptian King.

Six years after a physically compromised Salah seemed to be the Pharaohs' entire attacking game plan under Hector Cuper, Hassan is at least trying to do things differently, for better or worse.

Whether it proves successful remains to be seen, but it makes sense to let things play out as Egypt look to take advantage of an ostensibly favourable group to finally make World Cup history in North America.