Mohamed Salah has experienced back-to-back heartbreaks to close out his Africa Cup of Nations campaign, missing a penalty in Egypt’s third-place playoff.Salah missed out on a place in the AFCON final thanks to Sadio Mane‘s winner in midweek, consigning his Egyptian side to a battle for third-place against Nigeria.Mohamed Salah AFCON & Return UpdatesPenalty heartbreak: Egypt finished fourth at AFCON after a shootout defeat to Nigeria, with Salah missing his opening spot-kick following a 0-0 draw.Egypt vs. Nigeria: Salah played the full 90 minutes (570 total in the tournament) but missed two “big chances” in regulation; he returns to LFC having missed the last seven club games.Liverpool return: Salah now returns to Merseyside, with a decision to be made over whether he will travel for Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Marseille.Liverpool’s No. 11 was named in the starting lineup for their final game of the tournament and played the full 90 minutes, taking his tally to 570 over six matches.He could not find a goal, nor could anyone on either side by the end of the 90 minutes; the goalless draw set up an immediate penalty shootout instead of heading to extra time.Salah was the first to step up for his country after Nigeria missed their opening attempt, but the 33-year-old also failed to convert as his shot to the goalkeeper’s right was saved. Stanley Nwabili then denied Egypt’s second penalty taker Omar Marmoush, and with Nigeria converting their remaining four spot kicks, they won the shootout 4-2 after Ademola Lookman’s conversion.It makes for a second successive heartbreak for Salah in a matter of days, first missing out on the final and then a bronze medal.As for the match itself, Salah was more involved than he was in the semi-final having managed 51 touches and three shots but, as per FotMob, he missed two big chances from close range.Salah has missed Liverpool’s last seven games due to his international exploits, but with his AFCON campaign now over, he will return to Merseyside.He could be available for the trip to Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but when Slot spoke to reporters on Friday, that was yet to be decided.“We’re in talks with him, what is expected of him over there, what we expect over here,” Slot told reporters.To update the table with Mohamed Salah’s performance in today’s AFCON third-place playoff (January 17, 2026), we need to include his full 90-minute appearance and the final tournament totals.Despite Egypt’s goalless draw and subsequent penalty shootout defeat, Salah’s regulation stats remained at 0 goals and 0 assists for the match.Mohamed Salah: AFCON 2025/26 PerformanceFixtureMinutesG / Avs. Zimbabwe (Group)90′1 / 0vs. South Africa (Group)90′1 / 0vs. Angola (Group)0′0 / 0vs. Benin (R16)120′1 / 0vs. Ivory Coast (QF)90′1 / 1vs. Senegal (SF)90′0 / 0vs. Nigeria (3rd Place)90′0 / 0TOTALS570′4 / 1* Data via Transfermarkt. Performance includes 570 minutes across six appearances; Egypt finished 4th.“But first of all he needs to have an important game on Saturday and next week he’ll be back with us. That’s something [travelling to Marseille] we are talking about together now, yeah.”Slot insisted he will be “happy” to have Salah back in the fold as he all but put their falling out behind him, at least for now.