Mohamed Salah must have feared his World Cup dream was over after leaving the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium pitch in agony midway through the first half during last weekend’s Champions League final.

The 25-year-old, who has been one of the best-performing players anywhere in Europe this season, had suffered a dislocated shoulder after being dragged to the ground by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.

It can take up to 16 weeks to completely recovery from a dislocated shoulder but Salah, intent on being there in Russia this summer, has told his followers on social media that he’s “confident” he will be fit enough to play at the showpiece international tournament.

Egypt, who are currently 200/1 outsiders to win the tournament, stand very little chance of escaping their group without their talisman.

Salah has scored 33 goals in 57 appearances for his country. The next highest goalscorer in Egypt’s World Cup squad, Abdallah Said, has six in 35 games.

With Salah, however, Egypt stand half-a-chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

They find themselves in Group A alongside Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and hosts Russia. A second-placed finish isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

What Suarez has said about Salah's injury

There are now just over two weeks until Egypt play their opener against Uruguay and ahead of that match, former Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has had his say about Salah’s injury.

The 31-year-old, who left Anfield for Barcelona after the 2014 World Cup finals, insists he wants Salah to be fit for the opening match, even though it will be a tougher match for Uruguay.

"Regarding Salah, the reality is that no-one is happy when a colleague suffers an injury, even more so when that happens in a match as it did, just before a World Cup," the South American was quoted as saying by Goal.

"He is in a difficult situation, but I've consistently said I always want to play against the best to demonstrate that Uruguay are better.

'I don't wish this on anyone'

"I would love him to have a good recovery and enjoy the World Cup.

"He is in the same situation as me four years ago and I don't wish this on anyone."

What a classy thing to say.

Suarez is famous for his win-at-all costs mentality and football fans wouldn’t have been overly surprised if he was delighted to hear that Salah could miss the Uruguay match through injury.

The fact that’s not remotely the case says a lot about the former Liverpool star and how much he’s matured over the years.