Senegal Vs Egypt: Mané Vs Salah Rivalry Headlines AFCON 2025 Semi-Final

The Africa Cup of Nations semi-final between Senegal and Egypt on Wednesday is set to be defined by two of the continent’s biggest stars, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, whose rivalry has shaped African football for nearly a decade.

Since the 2017 edition of the tournament, the pair have ranked in the top two across key attacking metrics. Salah leads with 11 goals to Mané’s 10, while Mané edges chances created with 47 compared to Salah’s 44. In terms of shots, Salah has attempted 57, narrowly ahead of Mané’s 52.

Yet despite his prolific record, Salah has never scored against Senegal in AFCON competition. Their meetings have been notoriously tight: just six goals have been scored in five encounters between the two nations, three apiece.

Of fixtures played at least five times in the tournament’s history, only Cameroon v Ghana (1.0) has a lower goals-per-game ratio than Senegal v Egypt (1.2).

Mané has been in sparkling creative form at this year’s tournament, fashioning 14 chances in open play. On record since 2010, only Mané and Salah themselves have created more in a single edition, 15 each during AFCON 2022.