Salah starts for Egypt against Russia

Mohamed Salah will start for Egypt in their crunch World Cup Group A clash against hosts Russia, ending almost a month on the sidelines.

Salah collected a plethora of end-of-season awards after a stellar debut campaign with Liverpool that yielded an incredible 44 goals in all competitions.

However, 2017-18 ended in tears for the 26-year-old after he came off worst in a grappling challenge with Sergio Ramos during the Champions League final, leaving the action half an hour into a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid that plunged his World Cup participation into doubt.

The Egyptian Football Association pushed the notion of Salah making a swift and successful recovery from his shoulder injury, having declared him fit for both their matches in Russia.

Experienced head coach Hector Cuper declared Salah failed a late fitness test before the opening 1-0 loss to Uruguay and he carefully went through further checks during the Pharoahs’ pre-match training session at Krestovsky Stadium on Monday.

إليكم تشكيل #الفراعنة لمباراة الليلة #worldcup #ThePharaohs#RUSEGY#RUS #Egy pic.twitter.com/fMV9pNzzYk

— Egypt National Football Team (@Pharaohs) June 19, 2018