FanNation Futbol

Mo Salah Rescues Egypt In AFCON Opener With 97th-Minute Penalty Against Mozambique

Mo Salah converted a penalty kick deep into added time to earn Egypt a 2-2 draw against Mozambique in their Group B opener at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Robert Summerscales

Mo Salah Rescues Egypt In AFCON Opener With 97th-Minute Penalty Against Mozambique
Mo Salah Rescues Egypt In AFCON Opener With 97th-Minute Penalty Against Mozambique /

Mo Salah converted a penalty kick deep into added time to earn Egypt a 2-2 draw against Mozambique in their Group B opener at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.

Mozambique had come from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 and were moments away from recording their first ever AFCON win before Mostafa Mohamed was fouled inside the 18-yard box.

The penalty was not initially awarded by referee Beida Damane but a VAR review ruled in Egypt's favor.

Salah had failed to find the net from two of his previous three penalties in 2024 but the Liverpool star made no mistake in the 97th minute when his powerful spot-kick went in via the inside of the post.

Mo Salah pictured taking a deep breath before converting a 97th-minute penalty kick for Egypt in a 2-2 draw against Mozambique in January 2024
Mo Salah pictured taking a deep breath before converting a 97th-minute penalty kick for Egypt in a 2-2 draw against Mozambique / Sky Sports Football

Salah had earlier produced an unintentional assist for Mohamed as Egypt took the lead inside the opening 90 seconds.

Salah's miskick inadvertently set up Nantes striker Mohamed to fire home from 13 yards.

But Mozambique equalized in the 55th minute when Witi found the net with a fine header following a cross from Domingos.

Mozambique then went ahead on 58 minutes. Clesio - who plays his club football for Gabala in Azerbaijan - charged through the Egypt defense before coolly shooting past Mohamed El Shenawy.

Salah should have equalized for Egypt before his late penalty but he produced another miskick to fire wide in regulation time.

Egypt will next be in action on Thursday when they take on Ghana. The other team in Group B is Cape Verde.

Highlights: Egypt 2-2 Mozambique

Published
Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.