Three years after they last shared the pitch, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah will face off once again on Wednesday as Senegal and Egypt clash for a place in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The last-four showdown in Tangiers marks the first time the former Liverpool teammates have opposed each other since the 2022 Champions League final, when Liverpool fell to Real Madrid at Anfield. Shortly afterward, Mané departed for Bayern Munich before moving to Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League a year later.

Salah, meanwhile, remains at Liverpool despite links to a move to Saudi Arabia and a period of tension with manager Arne Slot before arriving at AFCON. The Egypt captain is on a mission in Morocco, having scored four goals in four matches, as he seeks the elusive continental crown.

At 33, Salah is running out of opportunities to claim a major international title, having suffered two heartbreaking AFCON final defeats. In 2017, Egypt lost to Cameroon in Gabon, and in 2022, Salah captained his side in a penalty shootout defeat to Senegal in Yaoundé.

On that fateful night at the Olembe Stadium, Mané had a penalty saved during normal time but recovered to score the decisive kick in the shootout, handing Senegal their first Africa Cup of Nations title. Salah was set to take Egypt’s next penalty but never got the chance, visibly emotional as Mané struck the winning goal.

Less than two months later, the teams met again in a decisive World Cup qualifying playoff. Once more, penalties decided the outcome: Salah missed, Mané scored, and Senegal progressed, while Egypt failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Both players have now qualified for the upcoming tournament in North America, potentially providing their last chance to shine on football’s biggest stage.

Continental glory at stake

For now, the focus is on African supremacy. Senegal aim to reach a third AFCON final in four editions, while Egypt seeks to add a record-extending eighth title to its trophy cabinet. Mané, who turns 34 this year, can play with less pressure, having already lifted the AFCON trophy in 2022.

“Nobody, even in Egypt, wants to win this trophy more than me,” Salah said after guiding his team past Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals. “I have won almost every prize. This is the title I am waiting for.”

Mané and Salah shared five years together at Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp, forming a formidable front line alongside Roberto Firmino. Together, they won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020, but also suffered two painful defeats to Real Madrid in Champions League finals.

Even at the peak of their partnership, Mané admitted that chemistry wasn’t always seamless. “I think Mo is first of all a very nice guy,” Mané said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast. “But on the pitch, sometimes he would pass to me and sometimes he wouldn’t. Only Bobby [Firmino] was there to share the balls. Sometimes it was like this.”

He recalled one match where he was “really, really angry” because Salah refused to pass him the ball. Despite occasional friction, their partnership yielded historic successes for both Liverpool and African football.

Now, as leaders of their respective national teams, the two former African Footballers of the Year are on opposite sides, each hoping to deliver continental glory — for the second time, in Mané’s case.

“The pressure for me is over,” Mané said. “Before I won the African Cup, sometimes I played badly because of the pressure. All that on your shoulders is not easy.” Salah will be well aware of that weight as the two stars prepare to write the next chapter of their rivalry.