Due to a hamstring injury, Mohamed Salah will miss Egypt’s pivotal Africa Cup of Nations Group B match against Cape Verde on Monday.

The 31-year-old forward for Liverpool is also not eligible to play in a final-16 matchup if Egypt advances.

Before the half in Thursday’s 2-2 tie with Ghana, Salah hobbled out.

Due to the outcome, the record seven-time African champions must now defeat Cape Verde, who has already qualified, in order to ensure their advancement.

“Tests on Mohamed Salah, the captain of the Egypt national team, proved that he suffered a hamstring injury and will miss the next two matches of the team at the Afcon,” the Egyptian Football Association stated.

Salah won’t play in the competition again until Egypt advances to the second or third round of the quarterfinals on February 2 or 3.

Juergen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, stated earlier on Friday that Salah’s hamstring injury was probably serious because the striker had only missed ten league games for the Reds in almost six seasons.

“He was shocked and couldn’t see why he was hit by something so intense,” Klopp stated.

“These hamstring strains are distinct from one another. He sensed it, and given how infrequently Mo gets angry or needs to get angry, we can be certain that something is wrong.”

Egypt, who have only managed two points from their first two games in the Ivory Coast, has suffered a severe blow with the loss of Salah, who is poised to reach 100 caps for his nation.

In order to avoid an embarassing first-leg loss against Mozambique, Salah scored a last-minute penalty on Sunday following a VAR ruling. However, Egypt had to come from behind twice against Ghana.

A year before to Salah’s debut on the international scene, in 2010, Egypt won their final of seven Cup of Nations trophies.