Mo Salah scores in World Cup debut, but it wasn’t close to being enough

Mo Salah's World Cup debut wasn't the fairytale he would have hoped for.

Three-and-a-half weeks after suffering that shoulder injury in the Champions League final, Mo Salah made his return to competitive football. The Liverpool man started for Egypt in their second group game against hosts Russia. Having lost their tournament opener to Uruguay through an 11th-hour winner, a draw was required to keep their World Cup dreams alive. Unfortunately, a comprehensive Russian win meant that Salah's World Cup was over before it even really began.

47 minutes

  After keeping the game scoreless for the first half, Egypt finally conceded at the 47-minute mark. The game's opener was absolutely awful. A terrible punch from Egyptian keeper El-Shenawy was followed swiftly by an even worse scuffed shot. That woeful effort was met by Fathy, who provided an own goal to cap off a comical move. https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1009150636770799616 That poor Egyptian keeper saw the ball go between his legs as the Russians doubled their lead. To be fair, not many shot-stoppers would have been able to keep Cheryshev rocket of a shot out. https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1009153590164746240 The Russsian's third goal was an absolute peach. Dzyuba grabbed his second with a beautiful finish that left the keeper absolutely no chance of saving it. https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1009154483538939904 73 minutes in, Salah got his goal. Unfortunately, it was a mere consolation from the penalty spot. Initially, it looked like the referee was going to award a free kick after Salah took a tumble. After consulting VAR, he pointed to the spot. Salah coolly converted. https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status/1009157177586532353 The game finished 3-1 to the hosts.