Egypt coach Hector Cuper admitted the outcome may "have been different" had Mohamed Salah been brought off the bench in his side's 1-0 World Cup-opening defeat to Uruguay on Friday.
Salah, overcoming an injury suffered in Liverpool's Champions League final defeat three weeks ago, was among the available substitutes but did not enter the game. Egypt appeared on pace to earn a draw until Jose Gimenez's late winner.
Speculation over Salah's fitness had dominated the buildup, and Cuper was left second-guessing his decision not to involve his star player.
"Mo Salah is an extremely important player for us, nobody can deny that, but you need to have a good team, and we have a good team," Cuper said after the game.
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"Perhaps if Mo had been on the pitch today the outcome would have been different, but we can't know that. Certainly he has contributed a great amount to the team and will contribute in future matches."
Egypt had said Salah was "nearly 100 percent likely" to face Uruguay, but Cuper said he did not want to risk his talisman suffering a setback against the physical South Americans, although he expected him to be completely fit for their next games in Group A.
"At the end of the training session we examined him and there was some doubt if he fell or was hit by another player, and we wanted to avoid a risk today," Cuper said. "We want to have him in top form for Russia and Saudi Arabia."
Salah now has four more days to work on his fitness before Egypt face the hosts in St. Petersburg, while Uruguay will play Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in Rostov.
Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy had produced two fine saves to stop Luis Suarez and another from Edinson Cavani before he was beaten by Gimenez, but he was still optimistic of their chances in the group.
"I would like to thank all the players and the team, they have played in an excellent manner, they have given their best efforts and they have implemented all Mr. Hector Cuper's instructions," the goalkeeper said. "Even though we did not win, we hope we will have better results in the future."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.