Mohamed Elneny impressed for Egypt on Thursday in his first start for any team since January, after his long injury absence.

After missing most of 2023 through injury, Mohamed Elneny returned to fitness in September and started to feature in Arsenal squads once again.

The midfielder even made it back out onto the pitch with Arsenal towards the end of last month, playing eight minutes against Brentford. But he’s yet to make a start for the Gunners since returning from injury.

As a result, Elneny’s spot in Egypt’s starting lineup on Thursday was his first start post-injury.

Egypt were playing against Zambia in a friendly, as they continue their preparations for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

Elneny only played the first 45 minutes, but he did well, with viewers suggesting he was one of Egypt’s best players in the first half, and that his substitution was probably predetermined for match fitness reasons.

Egypt ended up scoring late on to win the friendly 1-0. They’ll now prepare to face Algeria in their second friendly of the break on Monday, and Elneny may get a chance to make another start.