ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) — Mohamed Salah scored from a penalty kick deep into injury time on Sunday to send Egypt to the World Cup and end a near 30-year wait for Africa’s most successful team.
Salah scored both Egypt’s goals in a 2-1 home win over Republic of Congo in the penultimate round of qualifiers in Africa.
Egypt qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1990 and Salah’s powerful left-footed penalty in the fourth minute of injury time dramatically delivered the win it needed to make sure of its place.
It unleashed joy across a soccer-mad country of nearly 100 million people used to bitter disappointment when trying to qualify for the world’s top soccer tournament.