In Liverpool, the fans follow Mohamed Salah when he bows in prayer. He does this to celebrate goals, and people follow, even if they don’t follow his faith.

As Salah’s celebrity has grown internationally and exponentially, so has the idea that he can be a uniting force for the world, a person who can pull multiple communities together. “It’s something I think about a lot,” Salah says, nursing the lower half of his cappuccino. “I don’t know why it happens or why it is happening, but it is something I think about.” I ask Salah about the way Egypt is changing because of him—how he has given young people a sports star to aspire to become—and he pauses. “I’m always happy when I see the people look at me as an icon or an idol in Egypt. When I was young, I always wanted the people to follow my way, if it was a good way. I am very proud about that.”

"We'll fight for the first. It's a fighting mentality."

—Mo Salah to B/R Football, on returning from injury for Egypt's first World Cup match

Salah is humble by nature, though he exudes a natural confidence that you might expect comes with the territory of being one of the greatest athletes in the world. “I don’t think,” he says, “there’s any reason for anyone to not be humble.”

Still, Salah is thrilled and often surprised by the enthusiasm of the people who adore him. And he takes the affection in stride. In Liverpool, fans serenade him often in song—“They make a new one every week!” he exclaims, both exasperated and overcome with joy. He watches the fan chants on YouTube, trying to keep up, and engages with his followers on social media (15.8 million and counting on Instagram, 6 million on Twitter) when he can. The night after the shoulder injury, he posted a note to fans: “Despite the odds, I’m confident that I’ll be in Russia to make you all proud,” he wrote. “Your love and support will give me the strength I need.”

A statement from the Egyptian national team, that its doctors expected Salah to recover in time for the country’s second match of the World Cup group stage, brought relief to millions. A phone call with B/R may do more than that: “We’ll fight for the first,” Salah says. “It’s a fighting mentality.”

He feels an obligation to the people who support him. “Honestly, when I came here, I said I want to win a cup for this team,” Salah tells me. “I wanted to do it for the city, for the fans, for everyone who believed in me enough to bring me here.”

Salah likes it here in England. It is the only place outside of Egypt where he has felt like he belongs. “I’m very happy now in Liverpool. They have made me feel like I’m home. It is amazing with the fans here. They sing songs for you in the stadium. They chant your name, fans wear your shirt everywhere. It is beautiful.” There is a weight associated with being this great and this beloved. “I give football my whole life. So I’m happy.”

Salah is aware of his celebrity throughout the world and is bold enough to want to push it further. He half-jokes about wanting to trade jerseys with LeBron James: “I see him play when I can, and he is just...he is amazing,” Salah told me somewhat whimsically. “I saw some YouTube of him—not just basketball, but when he's talking—and I like him.” Salah insists that he wants to be the biggest player in the world. “If you look at my career, last year was better than the year before it, and this year was better than last year,” he says. “But there is more to go. I’m not just going to be settled.”

These are his roots speaking—the way he is wired to always keep climbing, as if greatness is something to fight through, not stand on top of. As if he’ll never have to stop earning every moment of adoration.