Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah is similar to Arsenal icon Thierry Henry in more ways than you might think – including a surprisingly rubbish record in cup finals.
Salah and Henry are undoubtedly two of the greatest attacking players we’ve seen in the Premier League era. Their outrageous numbers speak for themselves, and they’ve provided us with countless iconic goals in big games over the years.
But the two players have made little impact when it comes to finals, each managing just one goal and one assist in the major finals they’ve featured in.
It’s often said that Henry never scored in a major cup final in his career. Strictly speaking, that’s not true – Henry scored the extra-time ‘golden goal’ (remember that?) match-winner in France’s 2003 Confederations Cup final victory over Cameroon.
Some don’t consider FIFA’s now-defunct four-yearly Confederations Cup tournament a major trophy, but for our comparison we’ve included it.
The only goal contribution that the legendary Frenchman notched in his five major finals with Arsenal was his free-kick cross for Sol Campbell’s opener for the 10-man Gunners in the 2006 Champions League final, a game that Arsene Wenger’s side eventually lost 2-1.
Henry drew a blank in the 2000 UEFA Cup penalty shootout defeat to Galatasaray, the 2001 FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool, the 2002 FA Cup final victory over Chelsea and the 2003 FA Cup final victory over Southampton.
He was injured and absent from the goalless 2005 FA Cup final (won on penalties) against Manchester United, and he never featured in a League Cup final across his eight years in the English game.
After leaving Arsenal, he did lift the Champions League trophy with Barcelona but he didn’t score or assist in the 2009 final against Manchester United, nor their last-gasp 2009 Club World Cup final victory over Estudiantes. A knee injury kept him out of the Copa del Rey final in Barca’s historic 2008-09 treble year.
Henry was an unused substitute in France’s 1998 World Cup final win against Brazil but did feature (without scoring or assisting) in the Euro 2000 final victory over Italy.
He also failed to notch a goal contribution in Les Bleus’ 2006 World Cup final defeat on penalties against Italy, subbed off moments before Zidane’s infamous red card.
Salah has lost five of the nine major finals he’s contested with Egypt and Liverpool. His nation suffered defeats in the 2017 and 2021 AFCON finals, while his record in seven finals for the Reds is decidedly mixed.
The 32-year-old did set up Mohamed Elneny in the 2017 AFCON final, in which Cameroon came from behind to win 2-1. He also put Liverpool ahead from the penalty spot in the 2019 Champions League final, the 2-0 victory over Spurs.
Salah has never scored a goal from open play in a major final, while he has failed to register an assist in the seven finals he’s started for Liverpool.
Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat in the League Cup final against Newcastle was a familiar tale for their Egyptian King. It’s the sixth time (2018 Champions League final, 2019 Club World Cup final, 2022 FA Cup final, 2022 League Cup final and 2022 Champions League final the five before) that he’s drawn a blank in a major final for the club. They’ve won three and lost three of said finals.
But he has suffered misfortune on the biggest stages, injured by Sergio Ramos in the 2018 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid and forced off in the first half of the Reds’ 2022 FA Cup final nail-baiter (a goalless draw won on penalties) against Chelsea.
Injury also ruled him out of the 2024 League Cup final, in which Jurgen Klopp’s kids memorably beat Chelsea’s “blue billion-pound bottle jobs”.
We’ve broken down the full stats of Henry and Salah’s records in cup finals below:
Mohamed Salah in finals
Finals: 9
**Goals:**1
Assists: 1
Penalties scored: 1
**Minutes per goal:**784
**Minutes per non-penalty goal:**N/A (784 minutes played)
**Minutes per goal or assist:**392
Finals won: 4 (45%)
Finals lost: 5 (55%)
Thierry Henry in finals
Finals: 10
**Goals:**1
Assists: 1
Penalties scored: 0
**Minutes per goal:**936
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 936
**Minutes per goal or assist:**468
Finals won: 6 (60%)
Finals lost: 4 (40%)
Thierry Henry Mohamed Salah Finals Records Compared Goals Assists Wins Defeats Liverpool Arsenal
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