Mr. Salah, 25, is used to being an icon. In Egypt, his status as a national treasure was confirmed in October last year, when his nerveless last-minute penalty kick secured the country’s national team a place in this summer’s World Cup, its first appearance at the tournament since 1990. Mr. Salah, grinning deliriously, was carried around the stadium in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on fans’ shoulders.

His face adorns countless walls in Cairo. A mural of him outside a cafe in downtown Cairo has become a tourist attraction. The city’s markets offer his image on everything from bed linen to lanterns, traditionally given as a gift during Ramadan. In March, it was reported that he had garnered considerable support in the country’s presidential election, despite not running as a candidate.

The Premier League, and European soccer in general, has always been popular in Egypt, but now thousands pack Cairo’s coffee shops and shisha bars to watch Liverpool’s games.

“No Egyptian has done what Mohamed has done, which is why his rise is so important to the public,” said Ahmed Atta, an Egyptian soccer analyst. “Everyone is watching the Premier League now. Social media is awash with pictures of him.”

Mr. Salah’s popularity is not just the result of his prowess on the field; just as important is his philanthropy. “He is constantly donating money to charities and to his hometown,” said Said Elshishiny, the coach who discovered his talent as a child in Nagrig, a town in the Nile Delta. “It is enough to make anyone adore him.”

Mr. Salah has donated a dialysis machine to a hospital in Nagrig, paid for land to build a sewage treatment plant and renovated a public sports center, a school and a mosque. He has given money to an investment fund set up to bolster Egypt’s faltering economy, and in April, he took part in a video supporting a government campaign against drug addiction. Within three days of its release, it produced a fourfold increase in the number of people seeking treatment, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity.