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Photo by Fareed Kotb/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Elsewhere, Diogo Jota and Dominik Szoboszlai also had a good day for their countries.
Mohamed Salah is certainly no stranger to scoring for any team he’s on, in any competition. There’s a reason why he’s called the King of Egypt, and he showed it again on Thursday in the first World Cup 2026 Qualifier. Egypt were against Dijbouti, and Salah slammed four past them in a 6-0 victory.
Salah grabbed the hat trick in only 48 minutes and then scored a fourth for good measure in the 69th minute. This unsurprisingly gives them a very, very early lead in Group A, which they are in with Dijbouti, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau. Barring something crazy happening in the next few years, the Pharaohs look to be shoe-ins to take the group.
In other news, Dominik Szoboszlai and his country Hungary officially qualified for Euros 2024 thanks to a 2-2 draw against Bulgaria. Szoboszlai racked up an assist. The game was ultimately salvaged at the death by a dramatic Bulgarian own goal that gave Hungary the point they needed to push through with one game to spare.
Diogo Jota played all 90 minutes and also picked up an assist in Portugal’s Euros qualifying game against Liechtenstein. The team won 2-0. They had already qualified, but they continued their perfect qualifying run, winning all nine of their contests.
Luis Díaz scored two against his Liverpool teammate to lead Colombia to a 2-1 victory over Brazil. This is Brazil’s second consecutive loss during these qualifications. It was also a good morale boost for Colombia, and especially Díaz, who were recently rocked when Díaz’s parents were kidnapped.
