Salah was born on June 15, 1992, in Basyoun, Egypt, north of Cairo. As a youth, he idolized such professional players as Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, whose moves he tried to emulate during pickup games. At the age of 14 he joined the Egyptian club El Mokawloon’s youth team.

Salah started out playing for the youth setups of local teams Ittihad Basyoun and Othmason Tanta. He names Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Francesco Totti as his childhood idols. In 2006, he joined the youth team of Al Mokawloon aged 14 after being spotted by a scout who had originally come to watch another child play but was distracted by Salah.

Mohamed, or Mo, Salah was born on June 15, 1992, in Basyoun, Egypt. As a boy, he played soccer with his brother and friends and developed into a good player.