World Cup qualifiers: Salah scores four in Egypt rout as Nigeria held to shock draw

Mohamed Salah began his and Egypt's 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in style on Thursday night as the Liverpool forward scored four goals in the 6-0 victory over Djibouti, while Nigeria were held to a shock home draw by Lesotho.

Salah’s performance ensured an expected win for Egypt in their opening Group A match in Cairo with the striker grabbing the first four goals and increasing his overall tally for Egypt to 53 in 93 appearances as they look for a place at the 2026 finals, having missed out on the Qatar World Cup last year.

Nigeria, without injured Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, were held to a 1-1 draw at a rainy Uyo by the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho, who are 113 places below them in the Fifa rankings.

Defender Motlomelo Mkhwanazi put Lesotho into a shock lead after 56 minutes of the Group C encounter and they kept their advantage for 11 minutes before centre back Semi Ajayi headed home the equaliser from Kelechi Iheanacho’s corner.

But despite pressure on the visitors' goal for the remainder of the game, Nigeria could not fashion a winner and the result will put heavy pressure on manager Jose Peserio, just two months out from their participation at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mozambique claimed the first away victory of the African qualifying campaign, which got underway this week, beating Botswana 3-2 in Group G with Jonathan Muiomo, who plays in the fourth tier of German club football, scoring the winner in only his second appearance.

Algeria are the favourites in that group but their 3-1 home win over Somalia in Algiers was unconvincing with Riyad Mahrez and Amine Gouiri among their star players taken off at halftime as coach Djamel Belmadi looked to freshen up a struggling side.

Gabon fought from a goal