When is Mohamed Salah back from AFCON? Egypt schedule, Liverpool return date after 2025 Africa Cup of Nations

When does Mohamed Salah return from CAN? Egypt schedule, Liverpool return date after 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, originally published on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as your preferred source by clicking here.

Given the recent tensions in player-club relations, Mohamed Salah’s time as a Liverpool player appears to be coming to an end.

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In fact, it’s even possible that he played his last match as a Red. Departing on international duty with Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah could now move closer to an acrimonious end to his illustrious spell at Anfield.

Yet it is also possible that Salah could return to the club following the conclusion of Egypt’s journey through the AFCON, ready to help progress towards the latter stages of the 2025/26 season.

The Sporting News gives you the full overview of when Salah could potentially return to Merseyside, when he will play with Egypt and which matches Salah would miss thanks to international duty.

MORE:Egypt dominate Nigeria in pre-AFCON friendly with Salah on the bench

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When does CAN 2025 take place?

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will begin on December 21 and will be played for one month until the final on January 18.

Initially scheduled for last June and July, the CAN was pushed back to the winter due to the 2025 Club World Cup scheduled in the United States during the same period.

When does Mohamed Salah return from CAN?

All players will return to their clubs after the Africa Cup of Nations once their team is eliminated from the competition, unless injury or other exception forces them to leave prematurely.

Egypt are one of the title contenders and so it is likely that Salah will return to Liverpool later in the competition.

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Salah’s or any player’s first return to their club would be at the end of the group stage on December 31. However, thanks to Egypt’s status as a genuine contender in the competition and their group stage draw, this is highly unlikely.

MORE:Complete group tables and CAN 2025 schedule

If Egypt tops their group, they would likely advance to at least the quarter-finals on January 9. It is even possible that the Pharaohs could qualify for the semi-finals or beyond, which would see Salah return in mid-January.

With Salah, there is also a strong possibility that he will be sold in the January transfer window, which would mean he would not return to the club at all if a deal progresses before the end of the AFCON.

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Egypt CAN Calendar

Egypt was included in Group B of CAN 2025, facing South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe. Finishing in the top two in the group allows them to qualify directly for the knockout stage, but they can also potentially qualify with a third place finish if they are one of the top four teams to finish third in the groups.

Winning the group would put them in the top half of the group against a third-place qualifier, while a second place in Group B would see them move into the bottom half against the runner-up in Group F (Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique).

Incredibly, the schedule developed favorably for Egypt, such that victory in Group B would see them play all matches at the same venue, Agadir’s Adrar Stadium, until the semi-finals.

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There are two different potential places Egypt could find themselves in if they finish third in their group, one on each side of the table. One sees them face the winner of Group D in the round of 16, while the other sees them meet the winner of Group C.

Group stage

Knockout stage

1st place in group B

2nd place in group B

When Mohamed Salah could return to Liverpool after the CAN

Salah will miss significant time as Liverpool go through several competitions.

Fortunately for the Reds, the Champions League takes a break for the winter holidays, as do other domestic competitions in Europe and the rest of the world. However, the Premier League continues to roll relentlessly through the winter and will therefore miss a number of big domestic matches.

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Salah is guaranteed to miss at least three league matches. He would return for a possible trip to Fulham on January 4 if Egypt were surprised by a group stage elimination, but in all likelihood he would miss that match and potentially the important clash with title contenders Arsenal on January 8.

A push towards the later stages of the AFCON could see Salah miss even more matches, and depending on how much rest he is given after the competition, he could even be absent from the Champions League return on January 21 in France against Marseille.

Liverpool schedule during the CAN

Matches that Salah is guaranteed to miss

Matches Salah could potentially miss