Black Karl Lagerfeld x Fendi T-shirt, blue flannel, and tаttered blue jeans make up this laid-back getup.

Selfies taken in moving vehicles

He was beaming in his hoodie with graffiti art from Givency.

Dress for Eid

Mo dressed as a newspaper impressionist for the Eid holiday.

How Mo Salah Became the New King of Football

It’s not every day that the king of Egypt pays a visit to your city, so it’s understandable that the Lord Mayor of Liverpool would be feeling a little on edge. He’s also sporting a gold ceremonial chain the size of a saucer to show his respects. It’s a sunny autumn day in the city, and Mohamed Salah, the star striker for Liverpool, has come to the city hall to do an interview for an Egyptian TV station. To film their national icon, the creators sought a luxurious, aspirational location, and they couldn’t have done better than this. The Lord Mayor, a little woman named Mary, tells me that each of the crystal chandeliers in the ballroom weights a ton, and the building itself is ostentatiously magnificent, late Georgian, with Corinthian columns and gold-filigree cornicing. While the cameras are rolling in the adjacent room, the staff buzzes around uncomfortably, speaking in low whispers. Salah! Mary, a devotee of Liverpool’s archrivals Everton, cannot contain her enthusiasm. She says softly, “I’m not a bitter Blue,” presumably because, despite their rivalry, it’s hard not to root for Mohamed Salah.

Image may show Human and Individual Clothing and ApparelThe February 2022 issue of GQ features Mohamed Salah on the cover. Subscribe to GQ to obtain a copy. Gucci coat, costing $5,300. Melet Mercantile has the best vintage tank tops. Trousers by Winnie New York, $495. Adidas makes both sneakers (for $80) and cleats (worn around the neck) for $160. Socks by Adidas Originals, three pairs for $18.In Egypt, where lessons based on his life are required curriculum, he is known as the Happiness Maker. This is due in equal measure to his achievements off the field as to those on them. In just five seasons, he has guided a revitalized Liverpool to the Premier League and the Champions League, shattering countless records along the way. His smile could light up a room, and he has the look of a dedicated family man with an Afro and a beard to match. Having built a school, water treatment plant, and ambulance station in Nagrig, the Nile Delta village north of Cairo where Salah grew up, and donating food and money to the poor every month through his foundation, Salah has become a legend for his generosity.

Because Salah rarely grants interviews, there is no one to debunk the rumors whenever they surface that he has done anything unjustifiably generous. Some of these stories are true but would be unbelievable if not confirmed by video and/or photographs, such as the time Salah drove up in his Bentley to an angry mob picking on a homeless man at a Liverpool gas station, diffused the situation, and gave the man money to find a place to stay. (True.) Another example is when Salah’s father had 30,000 Egyptian pounds (about $1,900) stolen from his car and the police had apprehended the perpetrator; Salah convinced his father not to press charges and afterwards gave the criminal money to help him turn his life around. Equally true. Researchers at Stanford University found that hate crimes decreased by 18.9 percent in Liverpool after Salah’s debut in 2017; in Egypt, Salah’s participation in a government antidrug campaign resulted in a fourfold rise in help-line calls. The fact that people in Egypt’s recent presidential elections in 2018 were reportedly spoiling ballots by writing in Salah’s nаme despite the fact that he wasn’t running may not surprise you at this point.

Salah, dressed casually in a black Haculla hoodie, trousers, and MGSM sneakers, emerges through the double ballroom doors to be greeted by at least two dozen members of the film crew, all of whom want to take a selfie with their hero. Salah agrees, smiling even though it’s obviously too much, and we end up in another equally gorgeous room that looks like it’s set up for a wedding after his agent steps in. Salah sits down, unperturbed. His hands are in his pockets. He is accustomed to all of the praise. “It’s something I’ve always wаnted,” he says. As in, “But not that much!”‘To top it all off, this is rather minor. The moment he stepped out onto the street, a mob would form in Liverpool, a city that worships its soccer players nearly as much as it worships the Beatles. He can’t even get some shut-eye in a New York hotel without an Egyptian employee discovering his room number and calling to pay tribute. (True.) Indeed, in all of Egypt! Well, I can’t do justice to how much people in Salah’s home country adore him; his likeness is plastered all over commercially viable home goods in the bazaars, and streets and schools are routinely renamed in his honor. “Salah is the dream,” the Egyptian TV presenter who has come to interview him, Amr Adib, tells me. Indeed, he is a model citizen. It’s an inspiring tale of rising from the bottom to the top of the globe. Salah is more than just a sports star to a country that has been struggling to recover since the Arab Spring upheaval more than a decade ago; he has become a role model for the modern Arab world.