Ballon d’Or: AFCON Can Do for Salah What Copa America Did for Messi

Mohamed Salah captained Egypt to the AFCON 2021 final, seeing off host nation Cameroon in a penalty shootout in the Olembe stadium, Yaounde.

Salah and his national teammates started the tournament poorly, losing to Nigeria in their first game and struggling past Guinea-Bissau and Sudan in Group D. They slowly built momentum in the knockout rounds, beating two of the favorites in Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire before persevering to knock Cameroon down to the third place playoff.

Salah has been largely anonymous in the tournament, but his two goals and an assist have contributed greatly to Egypt, who are one of the lowest scoring sides in this edition of the tournament.

Having come into the tournament at the top of his game, it was expected that a title win for Egypt would support the push by many fans for the 2022 Ballon d’Or.

AFCON Win Could Put Ballon d’Or Odds in Salah’s Favor

Salah finished in seventh place in the 2022 edition won by Lionel Messi. The Argentine’s victory on the international stage in the course of the year counted for his victory, in a year in which he outperformed a lot of players individually but failed to lift a trophy with Barcelona.

Salah now has the same opportunity to mirror Messi’s achievement from last year with Egypt in the Final. The former Roma forward is currently one of the most in-form players in the world.

He is also high on the European golden shoe charts with his 18 league goals and Liverpool are still in the race for all the titles they’re currently competing for.

They face a huge hurdle in Manchester City and Bayern Munich for the biggest honors of the season, however. But with the AFCON title up for the taking, nothing can stop Salah from clinching football’s most prestigious individual award but Senegal led by his Liverpool teammate, Sadio Mane.

In an era where goals and lots of it might not be enough to clinch the Ballon d’Or, a triumph on national front could come as a strong advantage.