Mohamed Salah carried his goal-scoring spree from Liverpool to Cairo, netting four times Thursday in Egypt’s 6-0 rout of Djibouti in World Cup qualifying.

Salah had a hat trick in the first half hour of the match at Cairo International Stadium. He added the fourth toward the end of play.

It was Egypt’s first match in African qualifying for the expanded 2026 World Cup. The seven-time African Cup champions failed to qualify for last year’s World Cup in Qatar after playing at the 2018 tournament in Russia.

With Liverpool, Salah has scored 12 goals in all competitions — including twice in the 3-0 win over Brentford in the Premier League. Salah is the first player in Liverpool history to score in the first six home games of a league season.

Mostafa Mohammed and Trézéguet scored the other goals for the Pharaohs.

In other matches, Nigeria was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Lesotho, Algeria beat Somalia 3-1, Burundi edged Gambia 3-2, Mozambique defeated Botswana 3-2, Gabon beat Kenya 2-1 and Sudan held Togo to a 1-1 draw.

Nine teams from Africa will qualify directly for the 48-team World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. A 10th team could make the field through the playoffs.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com