Mohamed Salah will play his final match for Liverpool on Sunday, closing nearly a decade with the Premier League club. The 33-year-old Egyptian forward announced in March that he would leave Anfield after the season ends. Coach Arne Slot said Salah "deserves a dignified farewell." The home match against Brentford at Anfield is the fitting occasion for the star to say goodbye.
Salah is regarded as one of the greatest players in Liverpool history, with outstanding achievements: more than 250 goals for the club, two Premier League titles, four Golden Boot awards, and three Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year honors. But his legacy extends far beyond the statistics.
As an openly Muslim player from North Africa, Salah has profoundly impacted thousands of fans and young players. Sports journalist Ahmed Shooble, based in London, told Al Jazeera: "If someone told me when I was 10 that the best player in the league was Muslim, I would have called them a liar. And if they said his name was Mohamed Salah, I would have told them to leave the room."
Shooble recalled struggling with a football culture in England intertwined with alcohol and gambling—both forbidden in Islam. Salah, by living his faith openly and often performing the sujoud (prostration) celebration, gave Shooble the first instance of seeing his identity represented on the global football stage.
"Islamophobia is on the rise again in the UK and Europe. I think Salah is helping to reduce that just by being himself," Shooble said. He emphasized that Salah neither imposes any narrative nor flaunts his faith. "That piety and humility are striking; they counter so much of the misinformation people often hear about Muslims."
North African sports journalist Maher Mezahi highlighted that Salah's North African identity has also shifted perceptions of European football. Despite achieving at the highest level, Salah's childhood was marked by hardship: five days a week, he took a four-hour bus ride from the village of Nagrig to Cairo for training. That journey inspires young players like Ibrahim Adel, his Egypt teammate, to chase European dreams.
"Salah is a pioneer. If that is the measure of greatness, then he is definitely the greatest Egyptian player of all time," Mezahi said. "If he can do it, anyone can." Shooble agreed: "Ten-year-olds watching him today can grow up in a world where they have an ideal role model, and they won't think it's beyond their reach."
Salah will lead Egypt as captain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
