While new Liverpool signing Victor Muñoz’ presence with Spain means at least one Red is already confirmed through the the quarter-finals of the World Cup, even if the Spanish winger has yet to play a minute at the tournament for Spain—or put on a Liverpool shirt.
Amongst Reds who headed to the tournament as Liverpool players, that means there aren’t many left. With the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Sweden, and Japan all out in fact, it means that only Argentina and Alexis Mac Allister sill remain
at World Cup 2026.
Of course, there’s also one massive former Red remaining in Mohamed Salah and Egypt. And after today’s final round of Round of 16 ties there will only be one of them, with Argentina taking on Egypt in an early noon EST/5PM BST kickoff to determine who goes through.
Argentina will be favourites, but after struggling mightily to get past a heroic Cabo Verde 3-2 after extra time, there will be dreams that Egypt—who needed penalties after extra time to get past Australia—might just be well positioned to pull off an upset when they meet.
“We aren’t focusing on [Lionel] Messi,” said Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan when asked about facing Argentina and the game’s all time great. “We tell the players to go out, play their game, and block that out—and that they may have Messi, but we have Salah.”
Salah has been carrying a minor hamstring strain at the World Cup that clearly impacted his ability to sprint against Australia, but the superstar still managed to be a difference maker late in regular time and then across the entire 30 minutes of extra time in the last round.
