It is "probable" Mohamed Salah will play against Russia after Egypt's star man wasn't risked for their World Cup opener against Uruguay.

Despite coach Hector Cuper declaring beforehand that Salah would "100 percent" play a part in the Group A match in Ekaterinburg, the FWA Footballer of the Year was instead an unused substitute as Jose Maria Gimenez headed in a late winner.

Salah, who turned 26 on Friday, had been racing against time to recover from the shoulder injury suffered in the Champions League final last month, when he went off early as Liverpool fell to Real Madrid.

Cuper said that doubts over Salah's participation crept back in after Thursday's training session at the match venue on the eve of Egypt's first game at the finals since 1990.

World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Show all 24 1 /24 World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Egypt The Egypt starting XI, (top L-R) Egypt's defender Ali Gabr, Egypt's midfielder Amr Warda, Egypt's goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, Egypt's defender Ahmed Hegazi, Egypt's forward Marwan Mohsen and Egypt's defender Ahmed Fathi and (bottom L-R) Egypt's forward Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan, Egypt's midfielder Mohamed Elneny, Egypt's midfielder Tarek Hamed, Egypt's defender Mohamed Abdel-Shafy and Egypt's midfielder Abdallah Said pose for the team photographer before kick off of the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Egypt and Uruguay at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Ekaterinburg on June 15, 2018. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS (Photo credit should read ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Mohamed El Shenawy – 8 In his first competitive appearance for Egypt, El Shenawy stepped up, and could do nothing to prevent Gimenez’ late goal AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Ahmed Fathy – 6 Effective in defence, and had the best shot for Egypt, played to the best of his ability. REUTERS World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Ali Gabr – 6 Looked relatively stable in defence, especially considering his lack of minutes recently. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Ahmed Hegazi – 7 Will be disappointed to concede so late on, after rarely being troubled by Cavani and Suarez Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Mohamed Abdel-Shafy – 6 Another to perform well against the stars of Uruguay, tired towards the end. Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Mohamed Elneny – 6 Grew into the game after a first half, and did well to win the ball in midfield on a number of occasions. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Amr Warda – 6 Can be unpredictable but worked hard for his team and was applauded off the pitch by fans late on. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Tarek Hamed – 6 Hamed will face a race to be fit for Egypt’s game against Russia after coming off injured with a back injury just after half-time. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Abdallah Said – 6 A danger for Egypt and could be a danger for the Russian defence. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Trezeguet – 6 Lacking composure and experience but looked as though he could be a threat with pace and confidence. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Marwan Mohsen – 6 Not the most dangerous striker we will see in Russia this summer but worked hard for his team. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Uruguay The Uruguay starting XI, (top L-R) Uruguay's defender Jose Gimenez, Uruguay's goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, Uruguay's midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, Uruguay's midfielder Matias Vecino, Uruguay's forward Edinson Cavani and Uruguay's defender Diego Godin and (bottom L-R) Uruguay's defender Guillermo Varela, Uruguay's midfielder Nahitan Nandez, Uruguay's midfielder Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Uruguay's forward Luis Suarez and Uruguay's defender Martin Caceres pose for the team photograph before kick off of the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Egypt and Uruguay at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Ekaterinburg on June 15, 2018. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Fernando Muslera – 7 Had little to do against a toothless Egypt, and will expect much bigger tests during the tournament AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Guillermo Varela – 7 A dangerous outlet in a poor first half from Uruguay, but his impact faded in the second half. Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Diego Godin – 8 Uruguay’s best player, strong and commanding at the back, and even tried to push forward with little help from his teammates. Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Jose Gimenez – 8 A solid defensive performance alongside Godin and made the all-important impact with a brilliant header from a corner at the death. Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Martin Caceres – 7 A quiet game from the defender with an occasional burst forward that was ignored down the left. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Nahitan Nández – 6 Again ineffective and hauled off early in the second half as Oscar Tabarez looked to change the pattern of the game. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Matias Vecino – 6 Underwhelming against the Egyptians, and will hope to grow into the tournament Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Rodrigo Bentancur – 7 Has much talent and promise, which we witnessed glimpses of. Will need to take more risks with his passing to unlock defences. Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Giorgian De Arrascaeta – 5 One of the first to be sacrificed in a team of underperformers, de Arrascaeta offered little going forward to help Suarez and Cavani. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Edinson Cavani – 8 The better of the two spearheads in Uruguay’s attack, brilliant defending and goalkeeping and even the post denied him a goal. AFP/Getty Images World Cup: Egypt vs Uruguay player ratings Luis Suárez – 6 One of his poorest showings in recent memory. Looked a yard off the pace and missed two of the best chances of the game. AFP/Getty Images

"Yesterday we were certain he was alright," he explained. "At the end of the training session we examined him and there was some doubt if he fell or was hit by another player, he might get hurt again and we wanted to avoid a risk today."

Asked whether Salah might play in Egypt's next game against hosts Russia in St Petersburg on Tuesday, Cuper added: "Let's first try to talk about the Uruguay match. Tomorrow we can start thinking about Russia. If we look at their opening match, they scored some important goals.

"As for Salah, it is probable that he will play. He didn't play because we wanted to avoid risks. He will be fine for the next match."

Without the pace of their best player Egypt struggled in attack and were punished late on as their winless World Cup finals record continued.

Salah was forced to sit the match in Ekaterinburg out (Getty)

"Salah is an important player but we need to have a good team. If he had been on the pitch the result might have been different," Cuper added. "I think we had what we had and tried to do our best,â he added of a Salah-less attack.