FIFA ruling confirms Mohamed Salah has not yet surpassed Egypt record

FIFA has clarified that Mohamed Salah has not broken the record of 69 international goals held by Egypt great and former coach Hossam Hassan, despite scoring twice in the 5-0 win over Malawi.

Salah scored Egypt’s fourth goal with six minutes of normal time remaining at Cairo International Stadium on Friday, heading in Ibrahim Adel’s cross. He then converted a stoppage-time penalty with a Panenka after young forward Hamza Abdelkarim had been fouled by the Malawi goalkeeper.

The brace ended a four-match scoring drought for the Egypt captain. His previous goal had come against New Zealand in the second group-stage match of the 2026 World Cup. He had failed to score against Iran, Australia and Argentina at the tournament, as well as against Angola in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Salah did not feature in Egypt’s 5-0 victory over South Sudan in the second round of qualifying.

After the Malawi match, the Egypt players congratulated Salah in scenes that appeared to suggest he had overtaken Hassan’s record. Salah later posted a picture of himself holding a piece of paper bearing the number “70”.

The dispute centred on whether Salah’s international total was 68 or 70. French statistics network Stats Foot counted him as having reached 70, while Transfermarkt listed his tally as 68.

The disagreement dates back to a 10-0 friendly victory over Eswatini in 2013, when Salah scored twice. Questions were raised over whether FIFA officially recognised the match, because former Egypt manager Bob Bradley made 10 substitutions more than permitted in an officially recognised international. The fixture also did not appear on the list of Egypt matches published on FIFA’s official website.

FIFA added to the confusion after a report published following Salah’s goal against New Zealand stated that he had scored 68 international goals. That figure was used by some statistical sources to support the claim that his total had risen to 70 against Malawi.

However, FIFA has now amended the report, acknowledging an error and changing Salah’s tally before the Malawi game from 68 to 66. His total after the brace is therefore 68, leaving Hassan as Egypt’s leading scorer with 69 goals, scored between 1985 and 2006.

Salah will have another opportunity to draw level when Egypt face Malawi away on Tuesday, 17 November 2026, in the fourth round of qualifying. One goal would equal Hassan’s record, while two would make Salah Egypt’s outright leading scorer.

Any record-breaking performance would carry added significance because of the reported tension between Salah and Hassan, who was dismissed last week despite guiding Egypt to qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

The dispute intensified after Hassan substituted Salah after 60 minutes against Angola. Reports later claimed the manager had insulted players in the dressing room at half-time. Salah subsequently left the Egypt camp and did not travel for the South Sudan match.

Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abu Rida travelled to Turkey in an attempt to ease the situation, but Hassan refused to make the trip before the dispute eventually ended with his dismissal.