Hossam Hassan remains Egypt’s all-time leading scorer despite Mohamed Salah celebrating what he thought was his 70th international goal. The Egypt captain scored twice in a 5–0 win over Malawi in qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
After the match, Salah posted a photo of himself holding up a piece of paper with “70” written on it, a nod to what appeared to be a new national record. His former coach Hassan scored 69 goals for Egypt, and several media outlets hailed the Trabzonspor star as the Pharaohs’ new all-time top scorer.
The Egyptian Football Association’s match report put Salah on 68 goals in 121 international appearances after his brace. CAF revised its initial report to reflect the same tally, leaving Salah one goal behind Hassan.
The two-goal discrepancy dates back to a March 2013 friendly against Swaziland, now known as Eswatini. Salah scored twice in Egypt’s 10–0 win at the Borg El Arab Stadium. According to Zaki Abdel Fattah, Egypt’s goalkeeping coach at the time, then-head coach Bob Bradley made 11 substitutions, exceeding the limit of six. The match therefore did not count as an official international.
FIFA’s website had initially described Salah’s goal against New Zealand at the 2026 World Cup as his 68th for Egypt. That figure was the basis for reports putting him on 70 after his brace against Malawi. FIFA later amended its report to identify the New Zealand strike as his 66th, bringing its figures into line with the tally published by the Egyptian FA.
The 34-year-old gets another shot at the record on Tuesday, when Ali Maher’s Egypt travel to Lilongwe to face Malawi in their fourth qualifier. One goal would draw Salah level with Hassan, while two would make him Egypt’s outright record scorer.
