Mohamed Salah will return to Liverpool for treatment on the leg injury he suffered at the Africa Cup of Nations, but Egypt are hopeful he can come back for a potential semi-final.
Salah was injured in Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Ghana on Thursday in Group B.
“It makes sense that he’s doing the rehab with us,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Sunday, before Egypt confirmed the forward’s return.
Egypt face Cape Verde on Monday and will reach the knockouts with a win.
The Egyptian Football Association had initially said on Friday that Liverpool forward Salah would only feature in the tournament again if his nation advance to a quarter-final on 2 or 3 February.
Asked if the 31-year-old would go back to Afcon should his country progress, Klopp added: “I would say if Egypt qualifies for the final, if he’s fit before the final, then probably yes.”
Klopp had suggested on Friday that Salah’s hamstring problem was likely to be severe, given the forward had missed just 10 league games for the Reds in more than six seasons.
“He was shocked and couldn’t see why he was hit by something so intense,” said the German.
“You have these hamstring injuries in a different way. He felt it and we know how rarely Mo goes off, or needs to go off, so it is definitely something.”
The last of Egypt’s seven titles at the Cup of Nations came in 2010, a year before Salah made his international debut and they finished runners-up in the 2017 and 2021 editions.
He scored a late penalty last Sunday to help Egypt draw 2-2 with Mozambique to avoid an embarrassing opening defeat earlier in the tournament.
Salah is convinced he will win the Afcon “sooner or later”.
“I would love to win it, absolutely,” he said. “It will happen somehow – that is what I believe. Whatever I believe, I achieve – so sooner or later, it will happen.
“I have won everything possible but this one, not yet. Everybody knows what it means to any player to win an Africa Cup.
“The players are very motivated to win the tournament. I believe that, with hard work, everything is possible, so we just need to win one game to qualify and we go from there.”
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