Sadio Mane Beats Mo Salah Again as Senegal Reach AFCON Final

Sadio Mane scored the winning goal as Senegal deservedly beat Mo Salah’s Egypt 1-0 to reach the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Mane found the net from long range in the 78th minute as Senegal finally found a way past Egypt keeper Mohamed El Shenawy with their 11th shot of the match.

By contrast, Egypt did not register a single shot until Mostafa Mohamed headed high over the crossbar six minutes from full-time.

Egypt applied modest pressure inside the Senegal penalty area late on, but it was far too little too late.

Senegal 1-0 Egypt: AFCON 2025 semi-final match stats

Sadio Mane vs Mo Salah: AFCON 2025 semi-final match stats

Sadio Mane records his fifth career win over Mo Salah

The semi-final had been billed as a battle between Mane and Salah, who were teammates at Liverpool for five seasons, but have been international rivals for even longer.

Wednesday’s game in Tangier was the sixth time Mane and Salah had faced each other during their senior careers.

Senegal star Mane has now been on the winning side in five of his six meetings with Salah’s Egypt, including two victories via penalty shootouts.

Head-to-head results between Sadio Mane’s Senegal and Egypt’s Mo Salah

Two Mane goals and a missed penalty apiece

In all of the above-listed games, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah played the full 90 minutes, apart from the two matches that went to penalty shootouts, in which they both played 120 minutes.

Only twice in their six head-to-head meetings has either Mane or Salah scored. Mane netted in their first-ever clash back in 2014, as well as bagging the winner in their most recent clash at AFCON 2025.

Mane also had a penalty saved by Egypt goalkeeper Gabaski during regular time of the AFCON final in 2022, although the Senegal captain went on to score in the shootout. He later converted again from the spot during the World Cup play-off shootout, after Salah had missed the target with his own attempt.

What trophies have Sadio Mane and Mo Salah won?

Mane won AFCON 2021 with Senegal after getting the better of Egypt and Salah in the final in February 2022.

That remains the only senior international team title won by either player, although both have reached AFCON finals on more than one occasion. Mane was part of the Senegal side beaten 1-0 by Algeria in the 2019 final, while Salah and Co had lost 2-1 to Cameroon in the deciding match of AFCON 2017.

At club level, Salah has won more trophies with Liverpool than Mane, who left Anfield in the summer of 2022. Both men played central roles in delivering the club’s first-ever Premier League title in 2019/20, having lifted the Champions League together the season before.

They also won the FA Cup, EFL Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup together as Liverpool teammates. However, Salah’s two most recent trophies with the Reds — the 2022 FA Community Shield and the 2024/25 Premier League — both arrived after Mane’s departure.

Away from Liverpool, Salah is a two-time Swiss Super League winner with Basel, collecting titles in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons. Those remain the only major honours he has won outside of Anfield.

Conversely, Mane has lifted silverware with Red Bull Salzburg, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Al-Nassr and Senegal.

Has Sadio Mane had a better career than Mo Salah?

While Mane has won more team trophies than Salah — including a pivotal international title — the broader picture remains extremely tight.

Salah has scored more senior goals at the time of writing, registering 317 across club and country. Mane, who is just two months older, currently sits on 301.

Both players have also been crowned African Footballer of the Year twice by the Confederation of African Football — Salah in 2017 and 2018, and Mane in 2019 and 2022.

Where Mane arguably edges the individual honours conversation is in Ballon d’Or voting. He finished second in the global rankings in 2022, while Salah’s Ballon d’Or record shows a best placement of fourth in 2025.

Ultimately, the debate remains subjective: Salah boasts extraordinary consistency and longevity at elite club level, while Mane can point to broader trophy spread and international success.

Are Sadio Mane and Mo Salah friends?

Despite forming one of the most productive attacking partnerships in modern Premier League history at Liverpool, Mane and Salah have never claimed to be close friends away from football.

Former teammate Roberto Firmino revealed in his autobiography that the pair largely kept to themselves off the pitch, writing: “Each kept himself to himself. It was rare to see the two of them talking.”

That distance occasionally surfaced during matches, most notably in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Burnley in the 2019/20 season, when Mane exploded with frustration after Salah opted to shoot rather than pass.

Both players have since insisted there was no lasting issue. Mane explained on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast that the situation was resolved quickly through a direct conversation, adding that Salah told him: “If I can pass to you and if I see you, I will.”

Salah has also acknowledged that while the pair were never especially close socially, there was always mutual respect between them — something reflected in how effectively they combined on the pitch throughout their five seasons together at Anfield.

Their rivalry has been sharpened by repeated high-stakes meetings between Senegal and Egypt in recent years, yet moments of sportsmanship have remained, including Mane consoling Salah after converting the decisive penalty in the AFCON final.

Ultimately, their relationship has always been defined more by elite competition than friendship — two world-class forwards driven by winning rather than personal chemistry.