World Cup qualifiers: Did lasers prevent Salah from scoring crucial penalty vs Senegal?

The upcoming FIFA World Cup will see the presence of football icons like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi trying to win the trophy before hanging up their boots. However, one star who will be missing the biggest football spectacle in the gulf nation will be Egypt's, Mohammad Salah. The Egypt vs Senegal World Cup qualifiers match saw AFCON champions Senegal edge out Egypt on penalties yet again to book their tickets for Qatar. Besides the nail-biting finish, the match will be remembered for Mohamed Salah missing the penalty but not before he was been hit with laser lights.

FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers: Did Laser lights affect Mohamed Salah from scoring a penalty against Senegal?

An own goal from Saliou Ciss had given Egypt the advantage on home soil in the first leg, however, Egyptian midfielder Hamdi Fathi scored an own in the second leg which ensured that the deciding match went into dreaded penalties. Unlike last time Mohamed Salah was asked to take the penalty early however Liverpool striker produced the worst penalty as he smashed the ball over the crossbar.

However, as the 29-year-old’s readied himself to take the crucial spot-kick against Benjamin Mendy the striker's face was lit up by a series of green projections from supporters the video of which has now gone viral. While one can argue over whether the green projection proved to be the difference-maker the fact remains that  Salah was unable to Egypt off the mark as he missed the target 

FIFA World Cup qualifiers: Egypt vs Senegal highlights

Senegal controlled the match by having the majority of the possession during the match. Egypt substitute Zizo had two glorious chances to give his team the lead he wasted both the opportunities as the match crept toward extra time. Senegal's Ismaila Sarr came close to scoring the goal when his curling shot went wide of the far post after he found himself free on goal with only the Egypt keeper Mohamed El-Shenawy to beat. Sarr came close to scoring early in extra time, with his close-range shot following a Sadio Mane cross going right at El-Shenawy with the goal otherwise wide open.

 With the match tied at 1-1 Egypt was hoping for Mohamed Salah to give them the advantage with his penalty after failing to take one during the AFCON final. However, the superstar missed the shot completely. After the first four penalties were missed Ismaila Sarr put Senegal ahead and Bamba Dieng made it 2-1 after goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saved Egypt's Mostafa Mohamed penalty. Sadio Mane converted the ultimate penalty for Senegal to book their ticket for World Cup.