No Salah at Qatar 2022 World Cup as Egypt crash out, while Tunisia and Morocco cruise through

Egypt suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Senegal on Tuesday.
2 min read
30 March, 2022

Egypt and Algeria failed to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup on Tuesday, while Tunisia and Morocco passed the qualifiers stage.

It means that the World Cup will be without two of the Arab world's biggest stars - Egypt's Mo Salah and Algeria's Riyad Mahrez.

Egypt suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Senegal 1-3 on penalties, ending the Pharaohs' hopes of qualifying for the World Cup.

It was overshadowed after Salah was targeted by crowds aiming a laser pen into his eyes, moments before he missed a crunch penalty. His Liverpool co-star Sadio Mane fired home the winning goal to see Senegal reserve a place in Qatar later this year.

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Algeria also failed to quality after Cameroon's Karl Toko Ekambi scored a 124th-minute winner, ending the game 2-1 for the west-central African team.

With Algeria's defeat, it means that another star of Arab football, Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez, will not play in Qatar.

There was better luck for two other North African nations on Tuesday night, with Tunisia and Morocco both securing their spots in the World Cup.

Morocco's Azzedine Ounahi brace saw them beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 4-1 in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday.

Morocco's win 5-2 on aggregate will see them compete in the World Cup for a sixth time.

Tunisia qualified for a sixth World Cup finals appearance after a 0-0 draw at home to Mali ensured their place at the tournament in Qatar with a 1-0 aggregate triumph.

Reuters contributed to this story.